


camellia

by lkyjellyl



Series: flower garden [1]
Category: Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Chatlogs, Dialogue Heavy, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Mild Angst, Pining, Slow Burn, a background character dies, akira gets fucked, akira is a study nerd, akira is from inaba, bg akira/mishima, bg ann/shiho, i have combined hanahaki with shitposting, im putting akechi in sooner, mild yusuke/akira, the sex comes in a later chapter, yusuke/akira but akeshu is endgoal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:01:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 44
Words: 344,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24101791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lkyjellyl/pseuds/lkyjellyl
Summary: Born and raised in Inaba, Akira Kurusu was a well respected high school student with amazing grades, and a heart of gold. However one night his golden heart puts him in a lot of trouble. Suddenly he's a criminal with a record of assault, and is shipped off to Tokyo where he can't embarrass his parents further. His first night here he meets with Goro Akechi and he's in love. Problem with it is that is he lives in a world where love can get him killed. He soon finds himself choking on flowers and unable to tell Akechi how he feels because he's terrified of being rejected. Now Akira has to try leading the Phantom Thieves as he's slowly suffocating on bright red flowers. It doesn't help that Akechi decides he's going to keep an eye on them, so he and Akechi spend even more time together, making his hanahaki even worse. Can Akira survive this year?( Extensive retelling with Akechi joining around Kaneshiro's palace, and funny chatlogs to keep it light!)
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Series: flower garden [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2141535
Comments: 741
Kudos: 941





	1. getting a date is hard

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote most of the end half of his fic long before i wrote any of this starter stuff and boy did stuff change after i started to bounce around. i wanted to have fun before i forced myself to write some kind of slow part. i want to tell myself i can write slow burn but i don't actually know. the chatlog parts are thanks to a fic i read by [txbris](https://archiveofourown.org/users/txbris/pseuds/txbris). fucking amazing fic. please read it. it made me want to write my own shit. anyway it's helping me kind of steam past parts i don't want to write. like retelling palaces or w/e. i'll write new shit later but for the few two nothing is different inside so yeah. there is a change in when meeting Yoshizawa and Akechi, also when the train accident happens. i saw a dev piece that it was going to happen on Akira's first day to school which I thought was neat. anyway. pls enjoy! [follow my twitter for witty zingers and updates on what im doing. also gay.](https://twitter.com/pepsiismyblood)

It starts almost as soon as Akira sees him. It’s just a thought of ‘ _oh he’s nice looking’_ as an interview plays on TV on his way to his new home. The young man is talking about something he helped figure out, Akira only caught the tail end of the conversation, but his eyes are drawn to the handsome young man on the screen. The interviewer questioned the boy, Akechi-kun, what product he used in his hair. Akira couldn’t hear the answer as the train came to his stop. 

Today was the first day of his year-long probation and he was already missing the less crowded streets of Inaba. Junes might have been the highlight of the town but at least he could breathe there. Tokyo really was over crowded and the heavy smell of smog in the air was nearly enough to make him gag outright.

Akira was supposed to leave from the station to head toward his new home but he needed a minute to catch his breath. He found a quiet place out of the way of the crowd to lean his head back and try to refocus himself. It gave him pause to think about what landed him in this place. He had just tried to help that woman and instead of thanking him she testified against him. Akira had only ever been a model student and reserved child, now he was labeled a criminal and no one wanted him anymore.

Akira let out a sigh as he took out his phone to look at it. He wasn’t far from where he was supposed to go now. But what was this weird app? A creepy red and black eye stared him in the face. He motioned to delete it but before he could he realized something. He looked up to see that everyone had suddenly stopped moving. With a deep breath Akira adjusted his bag on his shoulder then set out to investigate what was going on. Some kind of flash mob?

As he headed out to the station square he found that hundreds of people were completely still. It gave him a bad feeling. This wasn’t a flash mob thing, people were completely still on bikes and in positions that were completely impossible to hold still for. Maybe he had passed out on the train? Across the sea of people he could see something, fire? _What was that?_ He squinted trying to get a clear look at what it was without getting closer. Suddenly the fire grew bigger and took a shape. It was humanoid and it was getting bigger and bigger. Suddenly in the blue flames a red face appeared. A wicked grin flashed across it’s features before Akira saw a vision. It was himself with yellow eyes and a mischievous grin.

A white hot feeling filled his body down to the tips of his toes until he felt like he was going to combust on the spot. Just as soon as it started it stopped and Akira was slammed back to reality. People began to move around him and he was left with the feeling he had just had a waking dream. This was probably a bad omen.

For now he needed to focus on finding his new home. Finding the place proved slightly difficult however. He made his way to the backstreets and thought he found the house but when he tried it was seemingly empty. So now he had to ask around for where his new guardian would be during the day. Why wasn’t he at home to greet Akira anyway?

That answer became evident when Akira arrived at a cafe tucked into a wall, easily missed if one wasn’t looking for it. As he entered the cafe Akira was met with the strong smell of coffee and four people inside. Behind the counter was probably the man who was meant to be his guardian for the year, then there were three patrons, one of which Akira recognized but couldn’t remember why. 

“Oh someone else my age? I guess this little cafe is gaining some popularity.” the younger patron said, looking at Akira.

“Hm? Oh. No he’s supposed to be here.” The older man behind the bar said standing up,” Sit over here and drink this. We’ll talk once people clear out.” the man poured some coffee in a cup for Akira.

“Perhaps I should go?” the young man wondered but the shop owner said he was fine,” If you insist.”

The older couple were watching the news, a story about a runaway bus smashing into a stop played. It left Akira a little uneasy and he wondered if something like that would happen to him here,” You’ll be safe.” the young man said,” This area is pretty far from any active roads.” Gods this boy was pretty. Akira suddenly felt much better about being sent away from home. Sure it was because he was a criminal and the only high school in his town expelled him but he was getting to talk to a cute boy like this? He could argue it was worth it.

“Where are you from?” The boy asked him to pull Akira from his thoughts.

“Inaba.” Akira answered after taking a sip of the coffee he was given. It was very good.

“Inaba. I’ve heard of it.” the boy smiled,” There were a string of murders there about five or so years ago right?”

“That’s what everyone says they know about it.” Akira tried not to sound bored about it but it was hard so he drank more coffee. He was interested in talking to his boy but he was also tired of hearing about the murders. Tourists, new neighbors, everyone asked about them. Akira had only been eleven when it all happened.

“I’m sorry. I suppose you must get tired of hearing that every time you talk about where you’re from.” the boy apologized, why was he so damn familiar? Akira glanced at the boy out of the corner of his eye trying to place where he’d seen that smile,” My name is Goro Akechi. What’s yours?” 

“Akira Kurusu.” Akira answered and suddenly he remembered he had seen this boy on the TV on the train. He was a detective right? He was cute.

“A pleasure to meet you,” Akechi offered his left hand to which Akira took,” What brings you to Tokyo?”

Akira looked from Akechi to the man, Sakura, who was busying himself in the kitchen with something. He wasn’t sure what to say but doubted he should answer honestly but he didn’t have any premade bullshit to lead with. 

“You don’t have to say anything.” Akechi offered Akira an out rather than having to answer. Maybe if they became friends later Akira would tell him,” That uniform is Shujin right?” Akechi questioned.

“I think so?” Akira pulled his coat up at the font a bit to look at it.

“I see.” Akechi hummed and Akira wanted to throw himself out the door. Why was he about as articulate as a head of cabbage right now? “I have to admit I spent some time looking into Inaba. Yasogami is rated pretty highly even if it’s the only high school Inaba has.”

“It was pretty good.” Akira agreed, wondering if this guy was a regular and if him making an ass of himself now was going to ruin him for the rest of the year.

“Was?” Akechi questioned and Akira was mentally turning himself into juvie so he could avoid any more conversations like this going forward.

“I’m not attending there since I’m here right?” Akira tried to dodge. He hoped it was at least slightly enough to get out of having to actually answer _why_ he was here. 

“I suppose that is a fair assessment to make,” Akechi chuckled. Akira was pretty sure that Akechi knew he was full of shit, no way he didn’t; however, he seemed to drop it as he pulled money out of his pocket to put on the counter,” Well, I should be on my way. I’m sure we’ll meet again, Kurusu-kun.” Akechi offered Akira a smile before picking up his briefcase to leave.

The bell ringing seemed to bring the old couple back to reality as the man looked at the clock. He and his wife shared a short conversation then got up, paid for their coffee, and left. Once they were gone Sakura came back around,” Glad that didn’t take forever. You finish your coffee?”

“Yes. It’s very good. Thank you.” Akira bowed his head.

“Right, well I’m Sojiro Sakura and I’ll be your guardian for the next year--” Sojiro began to talk and Akira listened. He couldn’t defend himself when Sojiro pointed out his record and what sticking his nose in adult business got him.

The following day Sojiro took Akira to school to introduce him to his homeroom teacher and the principal. It basically went that if Akira fucked up he would go right to juvenile detention. He didn’t want to, he shouldn’t have to worry about it, but in the end there was nothing he could do about it. His record was already fucked. 

On the way home Sojiro told him he would have to take the train the following days so he needed to plan for enough time to get to school the next morning. Traffic was flowing pretty evenly. They were waiting at one red light when suddenly the squeal of tires and screaming penetrated through the windows.

“What the hell was that?” Sojiro questioned looking around for the source. Akira looked as well before seeing what had happened.

“There.” Akira pointed out the window to the sight of an accident. He couldn’t see clearly, people were flooding to the victim,” Someone was hit.” Akira managed to spot someone on the ground a few yards away from a truck that had skidded to a stop.

“Shit.” Sojiro leaned up to get a look. Akira had started to motion like he was going to get out of the car when Sojiro pulled him back by the shoulder,” Don’t stick your nose in it. There’s already people helping. We’re going home.”

“But--” Akira wanted to argue but Sojiro was right, there were plenty of people trying to help already. It was better for them to just stay out of the way and move the car. Akira watched from the car as they passed by slowly. A red haired girl sat on the ground hugging herself as she screamed. Maybe she knew the victim? Was that person dead? He felt for her and hoped for the best.

The following day Akira woke up early to make his way to school. He ate breakfast, curry was a weird choice but he couldn’t complain, then started to make his way to school. He managed to make it to Shibuya without much trouble but the live swap confused him a little. He spent probably ten minutes trying to find his connecting train. By the time he found it he barely managed to squeeze into the car. Tokyo trains really were stuffed.

He hugged his bag to himself and watched out the window as the scenery of buildings and streets flashed by. It was nearly enough to put him to sleep, but then another train went blasting past them. The speed of the other train was enough to rock the one he was currently riding in. Akira threw a hand up against the glass to steady himself as everyone around him let out a shout. 

He pressed his face to the window to watch as the train that passed them wobbled dangerously before vanishing out of sight. Akira’s heart was pounding in his chest as people around him began to wonder what was up. One woman even claimed that the train that passed them was one her husband took in the morning. Whatever was happening with it wasn’t normal.

The rest of the train ride went uninterrupted. Akira arrived at the station without much trouble but it was pouring rain and he had not taken an umbrella. He ran as fast as he could to cover but school was still a few blocks away. This was just his luck. What did he do to deserve terrifying encounters and bad weather? He tried to help. That’s what he did. 

Standing in his shelter from the rain Akira checked his phone to find that the strange app from the other day was still there. Had he forgotten to delete it? It was possible. He was going to delete it again when he was joined by another seeking shelter from the rain. He looked up to see a tall young woman pull her hood off her head to reveal long blonde twin tails. She looked like a model. 

Akira couldn't help staring as she tried to wring water out of her hair. She seemed to notice him staring after a few seconds,” What?” 

“N-nothing.” Akira turned back to his phone quickly with a flush creeping up his face. He hated when people realized he was looking at them.

“You’ve got--” the girl spoke as she reached toward Akira. He froze stock still as she picked something out of his hair. It was only after she pulled it back he realized it was a cherry blossom petal,” I hate all this rain, it scatters the pretty blossoms everywhere.” She said as she looked the the petal. She seemed lost in thought when the sound of a car horn caught their attention. 

A man called to the girl, Takamaki, saying she’d be late and offered her a ride. Was he a teacher? She seemed to know him anyway and accepted the ride. He offered for Akira to ride as well but something about the man made Akira not want to accept that ride. Instead he declined. The man didn’t try to insist and soon he was gone with Takamaki.

“Damn Kamoshida,” someone new spoke. Akira looked over to look at a blond boy in a t-shirt as he kicked at the ground,” Screw that pervy teacher.”

“Pervy teacher?” Now Akira was starting to see why he didn’t want to take that ride.

“Yeah, you can’t tell me you don’t know the shit Kamoshida is up to. The bastard thinks the school’s his castle!” The boy looked at Akira,” Huh? You don’t look familiar. You go to the same school?”

“Shujin?” Akira took a guess. 

“Yeah,” the boy stepped closer to Akira to look at his lapel,” a second year like me. Why haven’t I even seen you before? What class are you in?”

“I don’t know yet.” Akira answered,” I’m a transfer.” 

“Ohhh? You’re the transfer. Weird… you don’t look--” the boy eyed Akira up and down. 

“Don’t look?” Akira leaned his head to one side.

“Uh-” the blond pulled out his phone,” shit we’re gunna be later if we don’t go now. The rain isn’t too bad. Let’s go.” 

Akira made a small sound of annoyance as he realized that the boy was avoiding answering his question. People didn’t know did they? With little choice Akira followed the boy to the school or what was supposed to be the school. 

“This didn’t look like this yesterday.” Akira said pointedly. 

“No shit. Maybe it’s a prank?” the other boy said as they both looked at a rather large castle,” Let’s look inside.” The boy suggested and then Akira’s life changed even further. 

Weird monsters, weird things happening to him, then the weirder talking cat. By the time they got out of the castle they were well late for school and the boy, Ryuji Sakamoto, decided they were going to be best friends.

After another attempt to figure out what was going on the cat appeared again as a real cat to talk about the palace and how to change a heart. Ryuji gained a ‘persona’ and they decided to give the Phantom Thieving thing a try. Honestly Akira couldn’t believe he was doing this. He’d gotten into trouble for putting his nose where it didn’t belong and now this? He really was asking for trouble.

No.

This whole thing was his way of fighting against the shitty stuff that happened to him. He didn’t deserve his record and Ryuji hadn’t deserved to have his life ruined by Kamoshida. They had to do something and they would, damn it.

_________________________________________________________________________________

“We seriously stole his heart right? Is it going to make him a less shitty adult?” Ryuji questioned Akira as they ate lunch on the roof with Ann and Morgana. It had taken weeks but they managed to pull off the theft of Kamoshida’s twisted desires. During that time Shiho, Ann’s dearest friend, attempted suicide, and because of it Ann ended up joining them. It was good she did. Her power was just what they needed to finish Kamoshida’s shadow before they could all end up dead.

So now they were trying to decide what to do with the money they earned from the fake medal they got out of the palace,” We’ll have to wait and see.” Morgana spoke as he scratched behind his ear,” We won’t know for a few days.” 

“Hey, but the meeting is in a few days! If he doesn’t have a change of heart Akira’s going right into juvie!” Ryuji frowned. 

“I realize that. We’ll just have to wait!” Morgana insisted,” For now just be normal high schoolers.

“Fine.” Ryuji frowned.

“Once we’re sure everything is okay we’ll have to celebrate!” Ann smiled,” With all the money we got from the medal.” 

“Right,” Akira nodded. 

“Aren’t you too easy going about this?” Ryuji pursed his lips.

“Not at all. I’m worried about ending up in juvie but Morgana is right. We have to wait.” Akira looked back as the bell rang,” We should go.” 

“Yeah alright.” Ryuji sighed before the four of them headed back to class.

_** Ryuji, Ann, Akira ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _1:32pm: **Ryuji** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji** : seriously tho  
**Ryuji** : what if nothing changes?  
**Ryuji** : we’re all screwed then.  
**Ann** : ryuji you have to stop stressing about this. focus on class.  
**Ryuji** : i can’t this is driving me crazy  
**Akira** : I feel bad for Mishima-kun.  
**Ryuji** : bro  
**Ryuji** : he’s why everyone knows about your record!  
**Akira** : He’s a victim too though.  
**Ann** : akira-kun is right.  
**Ryuji** : should we bring him in on what we’re doing?  
**Akira** : Mona says no. Since we already stole the heart there’s no reason to bring in another person right now. It would just cause a problem.  
**Ryuji** : sure.  
**Ann** : i’m sure things will work out. just relax ryuji. Okay?  
**Ryuji** : i’ll try but damn this sucks.  
**Akira** : I believe in Mona.  
**Ann** : awww.  
**Ann** : ok let’s focus for now okay?  
**Akira** : Right.  
**Ryuji** : ugh.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ ANN TAKAMAKI _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _4:47pm: **Ann** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ann** : are you ok? that chalk hit you right in the forehead earlier.  
**Akira** : I’m okay. Mona says I need more proficiency to dodge that.  
**Ann** : um. okay?  
**Akira** : I don’t know either. At this point I’m just listening to the cat.  
**Akira** : He’s informed me he is not a cat.  
**Akira** : I’m sorry for calling him a cat.  
**Ann** : lol!  
**Akira** : How is Suzui-san?  
**Ann** : she still hasn’t woken up. the doctors aren’t hopeful.  
**Akira** : Just believe in her. I’m sure she’ll pull through.  
**Ann** : yeah. i hope so.  
**Ann** : do you have some time? i was hoping we could hang out a little.  
**Akira** : Sure. Should I wait for you at the station?  
**Ann** : i’ll be in the underground mall.  
**Akira** : I’ll try to find you.  
**Ann** : actually i’ll meet you at the station square. you’re still learning stuff around here right?  
**Akira** : Yes.  
**Ann** : ok. no prob. i’ll teach you all the ins and outs of shibuya!  
**Akira** : Thank you Ann-san.  
**Ann** : just ann! can i call you just akira?  
**Akira** : Sure thing, Ann.  
**Ann** : great! see you soon!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ Ryuji, Ann, Akira _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _6:32pm: **Ryuji** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji:** holy eff he really confessed!  
**Ann** : i know right?! that was awesome!  
**Akira** : The way you told him to live and pay for his crimes was great, Ann.  
**Ryuji** : right?!  
**Ann** : i was so nervous he was going to actually try something.  
**Ann** : he doesn’t get the easy way out.  
**Ann** : i hope he suffers and rots in prison for everything he’s done.  
**Ryuji** : hell yeah!  
**Akira** : 😙👌  
**Ann** : omg. he uses emotes.  
**Akira** : I… yes?  
**Ryuji** : bro you type so formal it hurts me  
**Akira** : Should I be...less formal?  
**Ann** : do you know what a meme is akira?  
**Akira** : ... uh.  
**Ryuji** : holy shit ann he’s the white whale.  
**Ann** : a virgin.  
**Ryuji** : a white peacock  
**Ann** : a living aurora borealis.  
**Ryuji** : a what?  
**Akira** : I’m going to just look up what a meme is.  
**Ann** : it’s not something that can be defined. It’s something you have to experience!  
**Ryuji** : are we really going to get him into shitposting culture?  
**Ann** : it’s what we owe him.  
**Ann** : akira you are country bumpkin no more!  
**Akira** : I’m scared?  
**Ryuji** : you should be.  
**Ann** : ok i’ve got to put some good ones together to get you started. let me get back to you.  
**Akira** : O...K…?  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira carefully put his phone down, eyeing it with a bit of worry,” Something bad happen?” a familiar voice questioned from next to him. Akira looked over to find that Akechi had returned. They had run into one another a few times, Akechi frequinted the cafe and Sojiro had Akira working at it now so it was impossible to dodge him.

“My friends are insisting on teaching me what memes are. I’m a little worried about it.” Akira admitted watching his phone for a minute before turning to Akechi,” Do you know?” 

“I can show you one.” Akechi pulled out his phone to flip through things before showing Akira a picture of his face superimposed on a Pikachu with a poorly rendered hat with text on the image that read: ‘this hat means i’m a detective pls believe me.’

“It’s...making fun of you?” Akira leaned his head to one side.

“It’s a fun jest. Many memes are meant to be funny inside jokes or general enough for many people to enjoy them. It works better if you understand the references.” Akechi put his phone away after Akira had gotten a look,” You’re unfamiliar with them though? That’s interesting.” 

“I spent pretty much all of my time studying.” Akira explained,” I was aiming to get into Tokyo U to get out of Inaba and try living somewhere more exciting.” 

“And here you are,” Akechi chuckled,” Are you no longer aiming to get into Tokyo University now?”

“That’s… hard to explain.” Akira reached up to play with his bangs,” I’d rather not say right now.”

“If you insist.” Akechi left it at that. 

Akechi was easy to talk to. He didn’t press Akira on why he was in Tokyo now so it was nice. Eventually he was going to find out about Akira’s criminal record, Akira just hoped that when he did, Akechi would believe him when he told him that he didn’t do anything he was convicted of.

“Another cup?” Akira questioned as Akechi finished the one he had been working on for the last hour as he worked. 

“Ah, no thank you. I’ll be heading out in a moment.” Akechi flashed a smile to Akira,” I have a morning interview before I head to school.” 

“Is it difficult to balance work and school like this?” Akira took Akechi’s finished cup to clear the bar.

“If it were just work and school it would be easy, but it’s work, school, and public appearances.” Akechi chuckled.

“What about friends?” Akira had to ask. 

“I’m afraid any additional free time I have I tend to spend here. I am rather fond of the coffee.” Akechi grinned,” The new barista is interesting as well.” 

“I don’t know. I heard him say you’ve got too much work in your work/life balance.” Akira jabbed.

“Harsh, and I was going to leave him a tip.” Akechi joked as he pulled out his payment to set on the counter,” I suppose I’ll just have to give it to you instead.”

“I won’t tell him you’re playing favorites.” Akira winked as he took the cash to ring up the total,” In all seriousness, do you want your change?” 

“It’s fine. Treat yourself to something fun.” Akechi waved a hand to dismiss Akira when he tried to offer his change,” I’ll see you next time. Try not to get into trouble until then.” 

“I’ll try. Have a good night Akechi-kun.” Akira waved as the detective gathered his things then moved to leave.

“And you as well, Kurusu-kun.” 

Once Akechi was gone Akira went into clean up mode. He had some homework to finish and Sojiro was going to teach him more coffee techniques. Once he was free Akira slumped into bed with a heavy sigh just as Morgana jumped up to look at him.

“You should be careful about that Akechi kid.” Morgana pressed a paw to the side of Akira’s head to get his attention,” He’s a detective. The natural enemy of Phantom Thieves.” 

“I know.” Akira mumbled, turning to look at Morgana,” I’m just talking to him, Mona. He’s a customer.”

“Just don’t give us away.” Morgana moved down to Akira’s feet to curl up for sleep,” Tomorrow we’ll meet with Lady Ann and Ryuji to eat at that restaurant so you better get some sleep!” 

“Yes, Mona.” Akira rolled his eyes. He got up to turn off his light and plug in his phone before climbing back into bed to go to sleep. Tomorrow was important for them after all. 

_** Ryuji, Ann, Akira ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _7:44pm: **Ryuji** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji** : god i am so effin stuffed  
**Ann** : ryuji we’re all teens here.  
**Ann** : you can say fuck  
**Akira** : !!!!  


**[Akira has shared a photo.](https://i.imgur.com/h48Nx9o.png)**

**Ann** : akira i’m so proud of you  
**Ryuji** : i can’t believe he caught on so fast  
**Akira** : Memes are my new favorite thing.  
**Ann** : you sound like my mom on facenovel  
**Akira** : Should I be offended?  
**Ryuji** : prolly  
**Akira** : 😡  
**Ann** : cute.  
**Ann** : anyway, good news! shiho woke up!  
**Akira** : 🎉  
**Ryuji** : bro you need to lay off the emotes  
**Ryuji** : or use better ones.  
**Akira** : ┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐  
**Ann** : we’ll work on it.  
**Akira** : °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°  
**Ryuji** : did you just moogle ‘more emotes’ or something?  
**Akira** : Perhaps.  
**Ryuji** : anyway  
**Ryuji** : that’s awesome news ann is she doing ok?  
**Ann** : about as well as to be expected.  
**Ann** : she’s going to have to go through physical therapy but she’s alive.  
**Akira** : i’m glad. makes everything we did worth it.  
**Ann** : right? i can’t wait to find some other shitty adult to change the heart of.  
**Ann** : actually i have an idea!  
**Akira** : ?  
**Ryuji** : ?  


**Ann changed the group name to THE PHANTOM THIEVES.**

**Akira:** oh! yeah we can just keep using this for that kind of talk.  
**Ryuji** : isn’t it too obvious?  
**Ann** : it’s fine  
**Akira** : unless your phone is easy to unlock?  
**Ryuji** : … uh  
**Ann** : oh ryuji.  
**Akira** : fingerprint is not enough  
**Ryuji** : what do you mean fingerprint?  
**Ann** : RYUJI  
**Akira** : i’m stealing your phone tomorrow to prove a point.  
**Ryuji** : IT DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT. YOU CAN’T TELL ME FIRST.  
**Akira** : watch me.  
**Ann** : okay i watched this enough. akira are you not using caps on purpose?  
**Akira** : I wanted to try it too. It’s very nice typing like that. Should I stop?  
**Ann** : no! keep doing it!  
**Ryuji** : yeah bro just chill and say or do what comes to mind.  
**Akira** : bro  
**Ryuji** : hell yeah!  
**Akira** : 😀  
**Ann** : nice.  
**Ann** : alright. midterms coming up soon. should we do a study group?  
**Ryuji** : PLEASE  
**Akira** : sure  
**Ann** : perf. after school tomorrow?  
**Ryuji** : where we meetin?  
**Ann** : the diner maybe?  
**Akira** : i’ll ask mishima to join us.  
**Ann** : mishima?  
**Ryuji** : bro he leaked your record  
**Akira** : i know but he was forced to. i’m not upset about it.  
**Ryuji** : i guess if youre fine with it its cool.  
**Ann** : alright! lets do this!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ YUUKI MISHIMA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _8:22pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : Mishima-kun are you there?  
**Mishima** : Yes, what’s up?  
**Akira** : Ann, Ryuji, and I are going to have a study group tomorrow. Would you like to join us?  
**Mishima** : Are you sure?  
**Mishima** : I kind of screwed your entire school life.  
**Akira** : It’s fine. People were bound to find out.  
**Akira** : You were blackmailed too.  
**Mishima** : Kurusu-kun…  
**Mishima** : Okay. I’ll go.  
**Akira** : 😍  
**Mishima** : ?  
**Akira** : I’m excited you’re coming?  
**Mishima** : Oh! Okay.  
**Akira** : Did I do something weird?  
**Mishima** : No.  


_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _8:36pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : ann help.  


**Akira has shared a photo.**

**Akira:** did i do something weird?  
**Ann** : heart eyes.  
**Akira** : ?  
**Ann** : you used heart eyes. unless you’re flirting that might be a little weird.  
**Akira** : OH  


_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**Akira** : I see what I did. I’m sorry.  
**Mishima** : You don’t have to apologize. 😋  


_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**Akira** : would it be...weird… if i did flirt with him?  
**Ann** : are you bi?  
**Akira** : ... uhhhhh  
**Ann** : i’m lesbian if that helps you answer?  
**Akira** : i’m very fucking gay.  
**Ann** : 😄  
**Ann** : flirt!  
**Akira** : do you know if mishima-kun is, uh, interested in men?  
**Ann** : i don’t know him that well and i haven’t heard any rumors.  
**Ann** : only way to find out is to try.  
**Akira** : hhhhhhhhhhhhhh  
**Ann** : listen, your rep is already in the toilet. it can’t get worse.  
**Akira** : hm. sold.  


_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**Mishima** : You okay?  
**Akira** : Yes. Sorry. Had to clean up a mess my cat made.  
**Akira** : Can I ask you something kind of personal?  
**Mishima** : Um, sure?  
**Akira** : Are you into guys at all?  
**Mishima** : UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHY?  


_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**Akira** : ann i’m gunna die i can’t do this  
**Ann** : what did you do?  
**Akira** : asked him if he’s into guys at all  
**Ann** : ASDKLGASLGD WOW YOU WENT RIGHT FOR IT HUH?  
**Akira** : I PANICKED!  
**Ann** : aakl;hsdglhsdglkjas;sd  
**Ann** : akl;asdjwoqw[qwe  
**Ann** : ok. ok. don’t freak out.  
**Ann** : what’s he saying?  
**Akira** : he just said ‘uhhhhhh why?’ in caps  
**Ann** : what did you say?  
**Akira** : … nothing  
**Ann** : akiraadgsdjg;sd  
**Ann** : you have to say something!  


_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**Akira** : my cat is choking on something brb  
**Mishima** : D:  


_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**Akira** : i told him mona is choking on something.  
**Akira** : help me.  
**Ann** : OH MY GOD AKIRA YOU ARE A DISASTER GAY.  
**Akira** : i’m sorry.  
**Ann** : it’s fine. i am too. okay.  
**Ann** : you could either be honest about why you’re asking or lie about it.  
**Akira** : lie about what?  
**Ann** : lie about hearing he was into guys.  
**Akira** : oh! that’s a good one.  


_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**Akira** : i heard a rumor you might like guys so i was just wondering.  
**Mishima** : Did you tell me your cat was choking to buy time?  
**Akira** : no.  
**Mishima** :  
**Akira** : yes.  
**Mishima** : Who’d you hear it from?  
**Akira** : ann.  


_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**Akira** : i panicked again  
**Ann** : omfg  


_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**Akira** : i completely support you if you do. no homophobia here.  
**Akira** : my best friend is gay  
**Mishima** : Sakamoto?  
**Akira** : uh  
**Akira** : yes.  


_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**Akira** : ann i think i know what dying feels like. i am dying right now.  
**Ann** : akira sdklghasdl  


_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**Mishima** : Well, Sakamoto is a little bit of a surprise.  
**Mishima** : Since I already kind of ruined your school life I’ll tell you the truth.  
**Mishima** : I’m bi.  
**Akira** : cool.  


_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**Akira** : he told me he’s bi. what do i do now?  
**Ann** : ask him on a date!  
**Akira** : SO SUDDENLY?!  
**Ann** : YES.  
**Akira** : im gunna have a stoke  


_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**Akira** : do you want to... go out sometime?  
**Mishima** : ?  
**Akira** : like... a date..................?  
**Mishima** : Oh.  


_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**Akira** : he hasn’t said anything for five minutes.  
**Akira** : ann i’m dying  
**Akira** : please take care of my cat  
**Akira** : he has informed me again he is not a cat but he would like to be cared for by you.

 **Ann** : pass.  
**Akira** : he is heartbroken  


_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**Mishima** : When?

 **Akira** : UH. what about saturday after midterms?  
**Mishima** : Sure.  


_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**Akira** : ⚰️  
**Ann** : oh no. im sorry. D:  
**Akira** : no he said yes. i’m still recovering from my storke.  
**Ann** : asdkljsdglk AKIRA PLS.  


_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**Mishima** : Should I meet you somewhere?  
**Akira** : shibuya? i’m still learning where things are.  
**Mishima** : Do you know where you want to go?  


_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**Akira** : I NEED A DATE SPOT. NOW.  
**Ann** : HARAJUKU  


_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**Akira** : HOW ABOUT HARAJUKU?  
**Akira** : im so sorry about the caps  
**Mishima** : lol That’s ok. Harajuku sounds fun. We’ll meet in Shibuya then head over together. :)  
**Akira** : prefect.  
**Akira** : we’re still going to do the group study!  
**Mishima** : Of course. Thanks for inviting me.  
**Akira** : awesome.  
**Mishima** : :)  
**Akira** : ok later. o/  
**Mishima** : o/  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**Akira** : i...i did it  
**Ann** : good job!  
**Akira** : that took decades off my life  
**Akira** : why is flirting hard?  
**Ann** : if it were easy we’d be het.  
**Akira** : ew.  
**Ann** : anyway, congrats!  
**Akira** : thank you for your support.  
**Ann** : maybe i’ll ask out my crush next.  
**Akira** : who?  
**Ann** : it’s  
**Ann** : shiho.  
**Akira** : !  
**Ann** : I KNOW  
**Akira** : i support you!!!  
**Ann** : thank you. i think once she’s out of the hospital i might.  
**Akira** : (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑  
**Ann** : thank you  
**Akira** : ok. i need a long bath to decompress. my heart is still beating a thousand miles an hour.  
**Ann** : okay! congrats again!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i want to detail how i'm handling hanahaki but i actually wrote that up in the third chapter so i'm not going to put it in here. instead i'll thank y'all for reading this if ya did. my husband agreed to beta for me but i already know my tensing is all over the place. it's mostly in a capacity of the timeline making sense. lastly i've drawn in MANY inspirations to write this. it started off as one or two things that i wanted to combine then i got ideas from other stuff and now i'm throwing in small ideas from like twenty places. part of this is a rewrite, most of this will be new and in a way i enjoy. i'm posting this chapter so i don't lose all my shit in the draft setting, i prolly won't post more until i finish bc i want to actually finish a fic for the second time in my life. oki byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee


	2. germination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yusuke joins the team, Kasumi is met, and Akira has a little tickle in the back of his throat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before anyone gets into this, i have THOROUGHLY fucked with this timeline. people are showing up in weird places and interactions aren't the same as they are in the game. but i have reasons for this so you have to trust me. this is getting posted bc i'm like. on chapter 8 in the june area of the game with probably two or more chapters written for around nov in game bc i wanted to write something fun. so i have a LOT of padding. i feel pretty secure in what i've got here to share this chapter now. i do think i need to update my tags a little. my desires have changed as i've written. almost like... a change of heart.... dun dundunnnnnnnn also every other chapter title is a shit post while the even numbers are 'serious' bc it perfectly explains what this fic is. sadness wrapped in shitposts.

Akira was unbelievably nervous for the next few days after asking Mishima out. The study group went well enough. Ryuji needed the most help out of everyone and Akira was there as basically a tutor. He felt confident enough that his grades would look good, he was more nervous about this attempt at dating. He didn’t have many options back home in Inaba and suddenly he’s going on a date.

The night before his date Akira broke three cups before Sojiro told him to forget it and just do homework or something. Thoughtlessly, Akira sat next to Akechi who gave him a worried look,” Everything alright Kurusu-kun?” 

“Fine!” Akira’s voice pitched,” Sorry.” 

“Nothing to apologize about. You just look a bit frazzled. Are you sure you’re okay? Are you nervous about midterms?” Akechi asked again.

“No. Testing is easy. I asked someone out on a date after tests tomorrow and I’m a little nervous about it. I haven’t dated before.” Akira twisted a piece of paper in his fingers.

“Oh.” Akechi’s attention was on his cup of coffee as he thought on what to say,” Well, I don’t have any good dating advice for you unfortunately. I don’t have any experience in it myself.”

“You? I thought you’d have had a few girlfriends or something.” Akira teased.

“Not quite.” Akechi laughed,” I’ve been on work dinners or things of the sort, nothing romantic.” 

“I don’t even know if this is romantic.” Akira sighed burying his hands in his hair,” I just kind of went for it because I could.” 

“Isn’t that why most men date?” Akechi questioned and Akira would swear he almost sounded disappointed.

“That came out bad.” Akira frowned as he pulled his hands free.

“I think it came out pretty accurately.” Akechi smiled all the same and Akira felt _shame_ at it. Was he that shallow? Shit.

“That’s fair.” Akira gave the counter under him a tense and upset look. He really fucked up now. He let out a sigh before closing up his books,” I’m going to study in my room. Thanks for your time Akechi-kun.” Akira bid him goodbye before heading up to his room without another word. 

_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _12:06am: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira:** are you awake?  
**Ann** : yeah, what’s up?  
**Akira** : am i just a guy?  
**Ann** : um. yes?  
**Akira** : i asked mishima-kun out just because i could.  
**Ann** : what’s this about?  
**Akira** : someone i talk with semi-often pointed out that me asking him out just because i could was kind of... just a dude thing.  
**Ann** : akira  
**Ann** : akira no.  
**Akira** : ?  
**Ann** : does this person know about where you’re from? or that you’re gay?  
**Akira** : no. i don’t think so? i don’t know how obvious i am.  
**Ann** : then they don’t know the whole story.  
**Ann** : idk how it is for guys but asking someone out when you’re interested in the same sex is, like, super intense and hard.  
**Akira** : yeah.  
**Ann** : so ignore them! enjoy your date!!  
**Akira** : okay.  
**Ann** : good.  
**Ann** : be confident!  
**Akira** : i’ll try.  
**Akira** : sorry about the late text. i’ll see u tomorrow.  
**Ann** : good night!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ THE PHANTOM THIEVES _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _12:41pm: **Ryuji** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji** : that dude the other day  
**Ryuji** : what was his name?  
**Akira** : yusuke kitagawa.  
**Ryuji** : yeah him  
**Ryuji** : what the hell was he going on about?  
**Akira** : he wants to paint ann  
**Ryuji** : like  
**Ryuji:** on her?  
**Ann** : NO YOU PERV!!!  
**Ryuji** : hey im not the one saying youre some lost inspo  
**Ryuji** : dudes weird  
**Akira** : he seemed a little strange.  
**Ann** : strange or not he’s connected to that painter the guy in momentos told us about  
**Akira** : madarame.  
**Ann** : yeah. so we’re just going to play along for now. even if he’s weird.  
**Ryuji** : good luck with that  
**Ann** : thanks. :|  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The final day of midterms came and passed quickly. Akira’s focus had been more on his date than on his test. It was after the test that he wondered if he actually did any good. There was no time to focus on that. What was done was done and now he was headed to Shibuya to meet with Mishima.

As he made his way down the street he spotted Mishima waiting across from the diner,” Hey!” Akira raised a hand to wave,” How’d your test go?” 

“I think I’ll avoid a death sentence from my parents.” Mishima joked,” You?” 

“My parents don’t really care about my grades at this point.” Akira adjusted his glasses earning a pitied look from Mishima at his words,” But I feel I did pretty good.” 

“That’s good!” Mishima grinned. The two of them stood there awkwardly for a minute or so before Mishima cleared his throat,” Alright, well, let’s head to Harajuku then?” 

“R-right.” Akira nodded and began to walk back toward the station. The trip to harajuku was short, and when they arrived Akira was starting to feel dizzy again. There were so many people flooding the street. People in cosplay and lolita mixed with foreigners taking pictures excitedly.

“Alright, do you know anything about this area?” Mishima questioned once they were about halfway down one populated street.

“Would you think it’s a bad date if I said I don’t?” Akira asked sheepishly.

“You’re learning Tokyo so I’ll forgive you.” Mishima answered with a wink,” Since we just did testing let’s go get something to eat as a reward for making it through?” 

“Sure.” Akira looked around to pick a place.

“Come on, this way.” Mishima took Akira’s hand to guide him through the crowd to an udon restaurant,” This place is pretty good! They have good katsu.”

“I’ll trust you.” Akira smiled then took the lead to head inside, maybe this would go fine.

_** THE PHANTOM THIEVES ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _4:07pm: **Ryuji** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji** : man im so dead when scores come out  
**Ann** : haha.  
**Ryuji** : why you gotta hurt me?  
**Ann** : you could have crammed more but you played video games.  
**Ann** : who’s fault is that?  
**Ryuji** : listen  
**Ryuji** : i really needed to unwind after all that studying!  
**Ann** : then it all leaked out. gg  
**Ryuji** : akira bro help me out  
**Ann** : he’s busy  
**Ryuji** : ?  
**Ann** : if he feels like telling you that’s his business.  
**Ryuji** : ????????????????????????  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** THE PHANTOM THIEVES ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _6:26pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : dating is hard.  
**Ryuji** : BRO YOU WERE ON A DATE?  
**Akira** : yes.  
**Ryuji** : WITH WHO?  
**Ann** : things go ok?  
**Akira** : things went fine. but i don’t think we're compatible as a couple.  
**Akira** : cute but just not my type.  
**Ann** : you tried and that’s what matters!  
**Akira** : we’re friends at least.  
**Ryuji** : WHO DID YOU GO ON A DATE WITH?!  
**Akira** : i could tell you but it could change how you view me forever.  
**Ryuji** : BRO TELL ME  
**Akira** :  
**Akira** : mishima-kun.  
**Ryuji** : bro  
**Akira** : 😟  
**Ann** : ( ･ั﹏･ั)  
**Ryuji** : what  
**Akira** : you’ve been silent for ten minutes.  
**Ryuji** : so?  
**Ann** : ALL YOU SAID WAS BRO AFTER HE TOLD YOU WHO HE WHEN ON A DATE WITH.  
**Ryuji** : ????????????? why are you getting so upset?  
**Ann** : i s2g  
**Ryuji** : so you like dudes  
**Ryuji** : im good either way  
**Ann** : ⍥⃝⃝  
**Akira** : ?!  
**Ryuji** : what is it suddenly 1950?  
**Ryuji** : people are bi  
**Akira** : i knew there was a reason we were friends.  
**Ann** : are you two going to try dating now?  
**Ryuji** : nah  
**Akira** : nah.  
**Ann** : ok.  
**Ryuji** : its not because youre not attractive or anything  
**Akira** : you don’t have to explain it bro. i get it.  
**Akira** : you got your bro then you got your bae.  
**Ryuji** : YES  
**Ryuji** : he gets it  
**Akira** : but you do have a cute butt.  
**Ryuji** : thanks bro  
**Akira** : no prob bro  
**Ann** : omg can we get another girl on the team?  
**Ryuji** : whats wrong bro?  
**Ann** : i hate you.  
**Akira** : that’s harsh bro.  
**Ann** : I HATE YOU BOTH.  
**Akira** : also mona says we have to be careful about ‘recruiting’ we can’t just advertise ourselves.  
**Ann** : is it just going to be us?  
**Akira** : he says probably. there just isn’t a safe way to add more people to our team.  
**Akia** : since i can change personas it should be doable.  
**Ryuji** : that is a sick skill bro.  
**Akira** : thanks bro.  
**Ann** : well… okay. tomorrow we were going to check out the madarame exhibit right?  
**Akira** : have you talked to kitagawa-kun?  
**Ann** : he said to meet him outside the exhibit and he’d let us in.  
**Ryuji** : hell yeah heist at an art exhibit!  
**Ann** : we’re not stealing any art!!  
**Ann** : we’re figuring out madarame.  
**Akira** : i’ll check his pockets before we leave.  
**Ryuji** : BRO  
**Akira** : gotta make sure bro.  
**Ryuji** : you just wanna feel my ass bro  
**Akira** : i do bro.  
**Ryuji** : bro!  
**Ann** : i hate this.  
**Ann** : have either of you tried talking to maruki yet?  
**Ryuji** : the therapist? nah im good  
**Akira** : i was going to go in next week.  
**Ryuji** : for real?  
**Akira** : therapy is important ryuji.  
**Akira** : i have a lot of issues.  
**Akira** : between the false charges and normal student stuff i’m a mess.  
**Akira** : i’m not going to miss the chance to try working something out.  
**Ryuji** : okok i get it!!  
**Ryuji** : relax bro  
**Akrai** : sorry.  
**Ann** : talk to him! he’s pretty good.  
**Ann** : ryuji you should too!  
**Ryuji** : eh why?  
**Ann** : kamoshida messed up your life too.  
**Ann** : you can try to work out some of what it did to you.  
**Ryuji** : pass  
**Akira** : ryuji, the school is making everyone do it at least once.  
**Ryuji** : wait  
**Akira** : go see him.  
**Akira** : because it’ll be good for you. and also the school said you had to.  
**Ryuji** : shit  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** THE PHANTOM THIEVES ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _4:33pm: **Ryuji** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji** : MAN  
**Ryuji** : FUCK THAT MADARAME GUY  
**Akira** : ruiji said a bad word.  
**Ann** : SHAME.  
**Ryuji** : guys….  
**Akira** : anyway fuck madarame. he sucks.  
**Ann** : right? fuck him.  
**Ryuji** : WTF  
**Akira** : so we’re going to get his treasure and change his heart.  
**Ann** : save poor kitagawa-kun. ):  
**Akira** : yeah. no one with a butt that nice deserves this.  
**Ann** : akira.  
**Ryuji** : bro your thirst is showing  
**Akira** : i’m learning to live with no shame.  
**Ryuji** : what have you done ann?  
**Ann** : I don’t know, but it’s amazing.  
**Akira** : i have been unleashed.  
**Ryuji** : rip  
**Ann** : i’m so excited.  
**Akira** : we’ll head into the palace tomorrow to look for a route to the treasure. so get some sleep tonight.  
**Ann** : sure thing!  
**Ryuji** : ill be ready  
**Akira** : i mean it. don’t stay up until 5am playing games.  
**Ryuji** : I WONT  
**Akira:** alright that’s enough fun. let’s get ready for tomorrow.  
**Ann** : night!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The next day.

_** THE PHANTOM THIEVES ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _6:45pm: **Ann** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ann** : do i really have to do this?  
**Ryuji** : just distract him long enough for mona to get the door open  
**Akira** : we’re counting on you.  
**Ann** : uuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhgggggggggg, if i end up naked i’m smashing both your heads into the pavement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
**Akira** : i’ll accept my death.  
**Ryuji** : crunch me  
**Ann** : i’m going to strangle you both with my whip.  
**Akira** : ann that’s not helping us stop.  
**Akira** : anyway, listen. you’ll be okay. just get mona to open the door, show it to madarame and get out fast.  
**Ann** : yeah.  
**Akira** : if you really can’t handle it we’ll try to get it another way.  
**Ann** : no. there’s no other way.  
**Ann** : i’ll do it. just don’t miss the window.  
**Akira** : we’ll make it.  
**Ryuji** : yeah  
**Ryuji** : count on us  
**Ann** : okay.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** THE PHANTOM THIEVES ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _7:17pm: **Ann** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**_{_ ** _7:18pm: **Yusuke Kitagawa** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _7:18pm: **Yusuke Kitagawa** has joined the thread **}**_

**Yusuke** : Hello everyone.  
**Ann** : hey kitagawa-kun!  
**Akira** : welcome kitagawa-kun.  
**Ryuji** : how you feelin?  
**Yusuke** : Quite drained, awakening to one’s persona is exhausting.  
**Ryuji** : no shit  
**Ryuji** : i slept for like 18 hours after mine  
**Ann** : ryuji i think you slept like that bc you just stayed up playing games the night before  
**Ryuji** : i was not!  
**Akira** : either way, how was madarame?  
**Yusuke** : He’s still upset but he won’t press charges until after the exhibit.  
**Yusuke** : So as I understand it, we just need to steal his twisted desires to force him to confess.  
**Akira** : right.  
**Ryuji** : think you can do it?  
**Yusuke** : I feel that I must.  
**Ann** : we believe in you kitagawa-kun.  
**Yusuke** : Just Yusuke is enough. If you’ll permit it I would like to use your first names as well.  
**Akira** : just call me aki.  
**Yusuke** : Of course, Aki.  
**Ryuji** : just ryu  
**Ann** : you two are tools. don’t listen to them. they don’t actually go by aki and ryu.  
**Yusuke** : I see.  
**Akira** : ann is hammering in a ‘no fun allowed’ sign.  
**Akira** : but she’s right.  
**Yusuke** : Would you like to start a nickname or…?  
**Akira** : no. just akira is fine.  
**Yusuke** : When are we going into the palace next?  
**Akira** : once you’re ready we’ll go. we need to chart a course for it as fast as we can.  
**Akira** : we don’t have a lot of time before the exhibit is over.  
**Yusuke** : This is true. I am ready to go once you all are.  
**Ann** : are you sure you don’t need more sleep?  
**Yusuke** : I’ll only rest well again when we’re certain that sensei can’t hurt people anymore.  
**Yusuke** : *Madarame  
**Akira** : you’ll get there. for now let’s make plans for tomorrow.  
**Ryuji** : rodger  
**Akia** : *roger  
**Ann** : aye aye!  
**Yusuke** : Understood.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The following day the group met up outside of Madarame’s home while the ‘ _artist’_ was at his exhibit. They did a general scan for people pausing what they were going to do when a woman with a short cut bob hair style approached them.

“Oooo, Yusuke Kitagawa?” The woman asked excitedly,” Could you comment on the rumors surrounding the painting Sayuri? There’s a lot of speculation and I wanted to know what your take on it is. There’s a rumor it was taken by a formal pupil in retaliation for being abused, do you think this could be true?” 

The four teens exchanged worried looks as Yusuke stared at the woman in front of him,” Who are you?” 

“Oh! I’m Ichiko Ohya! I’m a journalist for Japan Times.” Ohya reached into her pocket to offer a card to Yusuke. He took it but from his expression it was just based on formality.

“Ohya-san, I’m afraid I won’t be any help to you.” Yusuke put the card his his back pocket.

“Why’s that?” Ohya tipped her head to one side. 

“I have no information to share with you. If you’re looking for a story you’ll have to start somewhere else.” Yusuke said calmly,” I was out here telling these three the same thing. Now please leave.”

“So you won’t deny that it’s a possibility?” Ohya tried to pry.

“I’m denying even entertaining the notion. Again, please leave.” Yusuke said more firmly. 

“Well, I guess if you won’t give me any evidence here I’ll have to keep looking elsewhere. If you ever change your mind you have my card.” Ohya offered her sweetest smile before leaving. The four of them watched her until she was out of sight.

“Yusuke, you’ve got nerves of steel.” Ann said as she played with the end of one of her twin tails,” I couldn’t have done that.” 

“I’m used to dismissing journalists who come around like that.” Yusuke smiled to her,” Now, I believe we should head in before we’re spotted again.” 

Shortly after Akira activated the nav to take them into the palace they were faced with a new problem, making Yusuke. His code name at least. After some discussion they settled on the name ‘Fox’ then began their dungeon crawl once more.

_** THE PHANTOM THIEVES ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:36pm: **Ryuji** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji** : man i am beat  
**Ann** : yeah. but we got the route secure! when do we send the calling card?  
**Akira** : i think that should be up to yusuke.  
**Akira** : the calendar for us is pretty open.  
**Ann** : we have that park clean up on the 30th.  
**Ann** : we should probably wait until after monday.  
**Yusuke** : Let us make it Wednesday then?  
**Akira** : sounds like a good plan to me.  
**Ryuji** : should i right it?  
**Akira** : left.  
**Ryuji** : *write  
**Ryuji** : asshole  
**Yusuke** : May I? I feel personally responsible.  
**Ann** : it’s not your fault. ):  
**Yusuke** : I understand, but there were a lot of people who were hurt because I willingly looked **away**. Please let me do this.  
**Akira** : alright yusuke. i’ll leave it to you. any objections?  
**Ann** : not from me.  
**Ryuji** : go for it man  
**Yusuke** : Thank you all. I will create a card worthy of our name. I might request some input for design reasons however. Madarame knows my style, if I just give him the card I’ve made alone he’ll figure me out right away.  
**Ryuji** : i got this!!  
**Ryuji** : i made our last card after all  
**Ryuji** : im basically a pro  
**Ann** : uh.  
**Akira** : no it’s fine. he’s a pro ann.  
**Ryuji** : whats with that wording bro?!  
**Akira** : i trust you bro.  
**Ryuji** : bro  
**Ann** : not this again.  
**Yusuke** : Should I also participate in this ‘bro’ing?  
**Ann** : please no. i can’t take one more of you.  
**Akira** : ignore her. join us.  
**Yusuke** : Hm.  
**Yusuke** : I think for now I will refrain. Perhaps in the future.  
**Akira** : what a sensible middle of the road take. kudos.  
**Yusuke** : I’ll take that as a compliment.  
**Ryuji** : ok yusuke  
**Ryuji** : ill message you privately in a bit to give some card ideas  
**Yusuke** : Alright.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The park cleanup day came faster than Akira had really paid attention to. They were to meet at the park in gym clothes to go through picking up trash. Ryuji complained about skipping it and Akira was tempted to as well, but Morgana gave them both hell for even thinking about doing it.

So Akira got dressed in his gym clothes and headed out to Shibuya to meet with Ann and Ryuji. He was on his way to their meet up spot when he caught sight of red hair and a familiar uniform. He paused to watch for a moment as a clearly middle aged balding man began to harass a small girl Akira swore he’d seen before he just couldn’t place where.

Akira waited a little to see if the girl could handle this herself. The last thing he wanted was to get yelled at for trying to help when it wasn’t needed, again. God getting arrested for trying to help someone really _did_ ruin him. As that thought came to him the man grabbed the student trying to simply leave. 

“Nope.” Akira muttered to himself as he stepped closer. He’d heard the man mention something about wanting to offer the girl a place to talk since she was from Shujin but the girl was obviously in pain from the way the man was holding her arm,” You’re hurting her.” Akira said when questioned about what he wanted.

“Don’t get so worked up. I’m just trying to help.” The man said as he released the girl.

“Oh? In that case let me show you how friendly I can be?” Akira gave the man a hard glare as the smaller student moved quickly to hide behind him. Akira had no idea where this confidence was coming from but it was pretty good. He was actually rather impressed with himself.

“What are you getting so jumpy about? Not like you’re anything special!” The older man gave the girl a nasty look, trying to ignore Akira, then turned and left like he had won.

“What a dick.” Akira frowned then looked back at the girl using him as a shield,” You okay?” 

“Thank you so much, I’m so sorry for the trouble!” The girl said as if she suddenly noticed she was clinging to the back of Akira’s track jacket. She took a few steps back to bow as she spoke looking more than a little alarmed,” I’m fine now. It was pretty scary though.” There was a long pause from the girl before she spoke up again,” May I ask you something?” 

“Sure.”

“What made you stop to help me?” the student asked.

“I wanted to.” Akira shrugged then clarified,” I couldn’t look the other way.”

“I see, well, I’m glad you did. Thank you so much! Again. I’m sorry. You’re headed to the clean up right?” The girl asked as she took out her phone then gasped sharply,” Oh no! The time! I’m so sorry, I haven’t thanked you properly yet but I have to run back to school. I forgot my gym clothes there. I’ll see you at the cleanup! We could talk more then if you like! Bye!” the girl put her phone away then rushed off toward the station.

“What a fun girl.” Akira stared after her,” I’m not crazy and she thanked me like three times right?” Akira directed his head back toward his bag a little to ask Morgana.

“She did. You did good though. As expected from my portege.” Morgana wiggled out to look at him,” A gentleman always helps a lady in need.” 

“I just hope she manages to make it there and back without getting bothered more.” Akira played with his bangs for a moment,” Ah well, let’s go. We’re already late.” He let out a yawn then turned to head to his meeting place with Ann and Ryuji once more.

“There he is. What took you so long bro?” Ryuji questioned Akira as he approached. 

“Stopped to help someone getting harassed by some balding creep. Not to be confused with the completely bald one that stuck me here.” Akira explained.

“Did you really come all the way here in your gym clothes?” Ann questioned. 

“Sure did.” Akira grinned. 

“Ugh, it’s gotta be nice to be a guy.” Ann lemented,” I was going to just change in the bathroom but now there’s a huge line because everyone else had the same idea.” 

“Why didn’t you just come in your gym clothes?” Ryuji asked.

“I would have been bothered all the way the way here by creeps.” Ann sighed as she folded her arms,” I don’t even know why it does anything. They’re loose fitting!” 

“Uhhh,” Ryuji looked thoughtful as he tried to give a reason from his own perspective,” I think… the way it frames your chest?” 

“They’re easy to remove.” Akira answered deadpan as he adjusted his glasses.

“Oh…” Ryuji looked very uncomfortable suddenly and Ann looked visibly upset.

“Man, it’s such a nice day out that even the weather seems to be mocking us.” A new voice spoke up just before Mishima joined the small group.

“Dude, could you try being a little less obvious you’re just pushing your way into our conversation?” Ryuji looked irritated. 

“I was just trying to help. You all looked so awkward I thought I might break up the tension.” Mishima explained looking a little hurt that his hand of help was so badly received. 

“Nope you’re perfect. Thank you Mishima. Damn whoever prayed for clear skies.” Akira jumped to the weather topic as fast as he could to get out of the talk about gym clothes.

“Good morning everyone.” Yet another new voice came though this time it was Maruki.

“Shit.” Akira hissed. He had promised to come by but still hadn’t really made it.

“Hey doc. You’re part of this too?” Ryuji questioned kicking up some dirt.

“That’s right. I’ll be helping oversee in this area.” 

“In those clothes though?” Ann asked. As Maruki started to explain why he was still in his lab coat a few other girls approached looking for him.

“We’re going to start prepping soon~” One of the girls said earning a question of what from Ann.

“I’m part of the cooking crew today. I hope you’re looking forward to a good meal come lunch time.” Maruki grinned,” I should get going. I’ll see you all later.” Maruki gave each of them a look pausing on Akira who awkwardly turned away after a few seconds.

Once Maruki was gone the school student president started to give instructions over the megaphone she had in her hands. Mishima informed them they had already assigned groups so people couldn’t just form packs with their friends. 

“Well I think I’ll be exploring around here then.” Morgana spoke up wiggling out of Akira’s bag to land on the ground gracefully,” Try to have fun!” 

“You… brought your cat?” Mishima looked at Akira. 

“He’s my emotional support feline.” Akira said flatly in a panic, earning a sigh from Ann and a laugh from Ryuji.

“Riiiight, I’m going to head out to my group. See you guys later.” Mishima waved and then was gone. 

“Damn Mona.” Akira muttered.

______________________________________________________________________

After getting his group assignment Akira went right to their zone and started to pick up trash. His group members eventually joined him. They only managed to pick up a few things before the guy in the group began to mutter about Akira being the transfer student with the record.

The three of them continued to stand around and whisper as Akira continued to clean. He needed to keep himself focused or he was just going to get upset. This was the worst. By the time the clean up was over Akira was tired and just wanted to go home. Pretending not to give a shit about what people thought of him was exhausting sometimes. 

His teammates left as soon as they could giving Akira the chance to sit down and finally mope. This would have been at least slightly better if his group members hadn’t known about his past.

“Looks like you had a bad time.” Morgana announced his return as he jumped onto the bench,” You okay?” 

“Fine.” Akira shook his head. 

“A stray?” Someone asked before Akira looked around to the red haired student from before. 

“Uh, no. It’s mine. Since we were here I thought it would be fine to let him explore while we cleaned.” Akira excused as he opened his bag for Morgana to climb back inside.

“Oh! That’s so sweet of you.” She smiled,” I’m glad I found you though. It was hard finding the time to look since we were so busy. I wanted to make sure I thanked you properly for this morning. But… where’d the other people in your group go?”

“They--uh--we’re just disbanded. The cleanup is over after all.” Akira tried his best to avoid answering beyond that.

“Ah, I’m pretty much in the same boat as you.” the girl looked about as happy to be ditched as he did,” Well, since we’re both alone why don’t we eat together?” 

“Sure, that sounds good.” Akira offered her a smile. She either knew about the rumors and didn’t believe them or she didn’t know at all. Either way he was glad to eat alongside someone,” I’ll get the soup!” The student left to retrieve their meals then came back with two bowls in hand,” Here you go.” 

“Thank you.” Akira accepted the offered soup and began to eat a bit.

“I wanted to thank you again for this morning. That man was more terrifying than he might have looked to you. So I really appreciate you stepping up to help me.” the student said again.

“It was nothing. I’m just glad I could help.” Akira smiled while in the back of his mind he added ‘ _and not get arrested for it again_ ’ for himself.

“I heard from a number of students and Kamoshida-sensei that you were a delinquent.” the student looked at her food,” I wanted to apologize for thinking anything ill of you before.” 

“Uh, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” Akira tried to push down the feeling of panic trying to claw its way out of his chest,” Everyone in the school knows about me at this point, I forgive you.”

“Still… people are creating all kinds of rumors about you and it’s not right.” the student looked sad.

“Is this week a dead body or is it still talking about me running a small faction of yakuza in my hometown?” Akira tried to joke but the student in front of him did not look convinced.

“It’s still not right. I’m not at all a fan of gossip or rumors and I’m glad I decided I’d rather get to know the real you instead! You don’t at all seem like the person the rumors describe. I mean, you brought your cat with you to the clean up.” the student motioned to Morgana who was simply sitting there listening to them.

“He gets upset when people call him a cat.” Akira joked reaching down to give Morgana a pat on the head.

“Seriously though, people have made up some wild rumors. There was, um, burglary, murder, I think something about an elephant tusk traffiking ring?” she started to list off with one hand.

“I think I’d have more money if that were the case.” Akira laughed,” Elephant tusks...what a weirdly specific thing. Man, wait until people hear I drive without a licence.”

“Oh ha. Even I can tell you’re joking.” the student giggled,” You’re funny senpai.” the student paused to take a bite of food but then stopped suddenly,” Oh! It just occurred to me I never introduced myself!”

“I’m Akira Kurusu.” 

“I should have said something sooner. I hope we can still get along--,” as the student spoke, a young girl who was walking by tripped on a rock and lost the hold she had on her balloon. As the balloon floated away the student stood up to set aside her food quickly and performed an amazing jump to retrieve the balloon. Akira got up to help the little girl back to her feet as the other student offered the girl her balloon,” No need to cry. Everything is okay.” 

Akira stepped back as the girl gave the child back her balloon. He was watching the exchange when he heard Morgana speak behind him. Looking down Akira caught sight of a small pocket book. Inside was written the name ‘Kasumi Yoshizawa.’ Planning a fun joke Akira held the pocketbook against the side of his leg as Kasumi moved back to him after sending the young girl on her way,” So where were you Kasumi Yoshizawa-san?” 

“Huh? How--?” Kasumi looked very surprised until Akira offered up her pocketbook,” oh! I guess you sleuthed me out before I got to say anything. You got me, I’m Kasumi Yoshizawa, a first-year.”

“That jump you did to get the balloon before it floated off was amazing. How did you do that?” Akira asked, releasing the pocketbook as she took it from him to put away,” Are you an athlete?”

“That’s right. I’m a gymnast.” Kasumi answered as she took her seat,” That was actually one of the easier moves to perform once you get the hang of it.” 

“Hey, moves like that could be really useful in a fight. Maybe you could ask her to teach you some stuff.” Morgana spoke.

“Did I upset him?” Kasumi looked at Morgana. 

“No. He thinks what you did was amazing and told me I should ask you to teach me some moves.” Akira offered a cheesy grin.

“Oh! I could do that! It would be the perfect way to properly repay you I think! And at the same time I’m wondering if it would be too much to ask for advice from time to time? I’ve been having trouble getting the resultsI want from my performances and I could really use someone to talk to about it. I don’t mean technical coaching, just a friendly ear.”

“Well, I hope that I can help you out then.” Akira offered his hand to Kasumi who took it with a smile as well,” It’ll be good to work with you Yoshizawa-san.” 

“Thank you Kurusu-senpai!” Kasumi pulled her phone out,” Let’s exchange contact info! Oh, give me a second. My phone has been acting up pretty badly.” Kasumi frowned before a beep sounded from her device,” Okay! All set.”

Akira took his phone out to exchange info just before the student council president announced the end of the clean up event,” Looks like it’s time to go. Thanks for spending time with me.”

“Oh! But our meals! I spent so long just talking, better eat quick!” Kasumi put her phone away and sat back down to inhale her food as fast as she could. Once she was done she looked at Akira,” actually since we’re already in our gym clothes would you like some training?” 

“Doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” Akira finished his own meal before doing some stretches with Kasumi, her ending with showing him how to perform a tumble.

Sore from the pick up and the workout Akira made his way to the exit of the park where Ann and Ryuji were waiting for him,” Yo dude, what took so long?” 

“I’m a master of gymnastics now.” Akira said dramatically as he adjusted his glasses,” Yoshizawa in first year was in trouble this morning. As a repayment for helping her out of trouble she taught me some gymnastic stuff. I can do a backflip now.”

“Bullshit.” Ryuji didn’t look convinced. 

“I would show you right now but I’m sore from learning it. Let me show you next time we’re in Madarame’s Palace.”

“That’ll be a pretty neat skill though.” Ann sounded excited,” Just backflip out of an attack, maybe use your foot to kick it in the face on the way out.” 

“Oh, I like that.” Akira perked up.

“Let’s get the hell out of here.” Ryuji adjusted the bag on his back and led the way out.

“How’d the planning with Yusuke go?” Ann asked.

“Pretty good I think. He seems pretty pleased with the results.” Ryuji answered and the three of them fell into easy conversation about their plans.

_** THE PHANTOM THIEVES ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _1:36pm: **Ryuji** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji** : that fight was horrible.  
**Ann** : i’m still getting the ink out of my hair. ):  
**Yusuke** : Thank you all for your help.  
**Akira** : you helped a lot yusuke.  
**Akira** : we might not have made it if you hadn’t been there.  
**Yusuke** : :D  
**Ryuji** : alright so we gotta celebrate again right?  
**Ann** : shouldn’t we wait until he confesses?  
**Akira** : morgana agrees.  
**Ryuji** : we can plan it still!  
**Ann** : let’s do a hot pot!  
**Yusuke** : I request we finish with porridge.  
**Ryuji** : we can have it at akira’s place.  
**Akira** : ?!  
**Ryuji** : bro your places is the biggest  
**Ryuji** : you showed me the pics  
**Akira** : ( ･ั﹏･ั)  
**Ryuji** : what  
**Akira** : let me talk to boss first.  
**Ann** : things ok?  
**Akira** : i’m just not sure what he’ll say is all.  
**Akira** : i don’t want to make a promise and get shot down.  
**Ann** : fair!  
**Akira** : assuming we don’t all go to jail still.  
**Yusuke** : Indeed. I’ll keep you all appraised of Madarame’s condition.  
**Akira** : thanks yusuke.  
**Akira** : if things go well let’s plan for the 11th?  
**Ann** : sounds perfect.  
**Ryuji** : man we gotta wait til after the social studies trip?  
**Ann:** look at it as an incentive to go!  
**Yusuke** : Where will your trip be?  
**Akira** : tv station.  
**Ann** : we’re going to sit in during a show recording.  
**Yusuke** : Inspiring!  
**Ryuji** : bro were just gunna be sitting there  
**Ann** : i should do my makeup that day!  
**Akira** : what if they show us?  
**Ann** : exactly why i want to look my best!  
**Akira** : maybe i should try something with my hair.  
**Ryuji** : ... suddenly im planning to be sick that day  
**Ann** : ryuji you’re going or you don’t get any hot pot.  
**Ryuji** : hey! you cant make that call!  
**Akira** : i can.  
**Ryuji** : BRO  
**Akira** : sorry bro but you have to behave like the rest of us.  
**Yusuke** : Good luck.  
**Ryuji** : aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

“Uhm, Boss,” Akira called for Sojiro’s attention one evening after he finally worked up the nerve to ask about the hotpot,” I have friends who wanted to have hotpot. Could we do it here?” Akira all but blurted out. 

“Hotpot in this weather?” Sojiro looked to Akira with a raised eyebrow,” eh what the hell. Sure you can do it. Just don’t make too much noise and keep clean up after yourselves.”

“Thank you!” Akira bowed his head to Sojiro.

“What day?” Sojiro checked his calendar.

“Saturday.” 

“Alright, that’s a pretty slow day. Feel free to have your friends over.” Sojiro offered a smile,” Make sure you get that room cleaned up.” 

“I will!” Akira perked up offering a smile in return. Just as their conversation ended the bell rang by the door and in walked Akechi,” Welcome Akechi-kun, the usual?” 

“Yes please,” Akechi let out a sigh as he sat down.

“You haven’t been by in a while, I was starting to wonder if you’d found a new place.” Akira teased. 

“No. Work has been a bit more interesting lately that’s all.” Akechi watched as Akira prepared his coffee,” I should apologize for the way I acted last we spoke, I was a bit cold about the topic.” 

“You brought up a good point.” Akira shook his head,” I did just ask because I could. We went out and after it was over I found we were better suited for friends instead. I think I prefer to know someone a bit more before getting too involved.” Akira looked up from the coffee for a moment,” He wasn’t that upset when I mentioned how I felt and he agreed that we weren't compatible. Still wasn’t a bad first date, the udon was good.” Akira watched Akechi’s face carefully as he spoke in a way that deliberately gave him away.

“Ah.” Akechi sounded after a few seconds as the words sank in,” I see. Well, maybe the next time.” Akira was almost disappointed that there was hardly any change in his expression. Maybe Akechi hadn’t heard or he just didn’t care. Akira was curious, but he decided to not press his luck. He passed Akechi his coffee then waited as he took a taste,” Mm. You’re getting better.” 

“Give me another week and I’ll be a master.” Akira said proudly.

“I’ll hold you to that.” Akechi chuckled softly.

The evening passed quietly, the two talking about every other thing they could think of. When it got late Akechi paid for his coffee and left once more. Akira stared after him for a while, missing him being there already.

With a shake of his head Akira began to clean up. He was in the middle of doing dishes when a small cough came out. 

“You getting sick?” Sojiro questioned as he started to hang up his apron. 

“I don’t think so.” Akira cleared his throat as the cough passed. 

“Better to be safe, I’ll finish cleaning up, you head on up to bed early.” Sojiro put his apron back on,” Off you go. You have that field trip soon right?” 

“Yes.” Akira rinsed his hands then took his apron off,” Thanks boss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cough cough goes the flower boy he just don't know it yet. akechi was indeed a little upset that akira was just a guy being a dude in his eyes. ann continues to be an angel and yusuke is someone who i love dearly. the weirdo. i hope you enjoyed akira being a complete disaster gay bc honestly are there any other options? i think not.


	3. kitchen thieves of spoons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this thrilling chapter Akechi is met by the rest of the group, they share their stories of woe, and spoons are stolen? Well, there's spooning involved at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a pretty short chapter compared to the rest of what i have written so i'm posting it now while i continue working. it's kind of a joke chapter i guess? but there are still important things? also i messed up before saying the hanahaki was explained here. it's the next chapter. oops. anyway. pls enjoy.

_** THE PHANTOM THIEVES ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:26pm: **Ryuji** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji** : another heart changed!  
**Yusuke** : Hearing about how it works was one thing. Seeing was another. It is truly an amazing power we have.  
**Akira** : i don’t know. i was sweating bullets for a minute there.  
**Ann** : liar.  
**Akira** : you got me.  
**Akira** : this is good though. no one else will suffer because of him.  
**Yusuke** : Yes, I want to thank you all again.  
**Ann** : you’re one of us yusuke! of course we would help you!  
**Akira** : ann is right.  
**Ryuji** : the four phantom thieves and their mascot cat.  
**Akira** : morgana says he’s not a cat.  
**Akira** : and he resents that remark.  
**Ryuji** : meh  
**Ann** : tomorrow we have our field trip then hotpot!  
**Ryuji** : HELL YES  
**Akira** : ryuji i didn’t think you were that excited about the field trip?  
**Ryuji** : bro  
**Ryuji** : no i want the hotpot  
**Ryuji** : id rather sleep than go to the stupid field trip  
**Akira** : you have to go to the field trip. appearing as a normal student is an important part of being a phantom thief. - mona  
**Ryuji** : wouldnt it be weirder that i suddenly became a model student?  
**Akira** : shut up and go on the field trip. i won’t allow for delinquents in our party.  
**Akira** : also mona  
**Ann** : savage.  
**Akira** : right? why am i allowed here then?  
**Ann** : akasdhgklh akira pls.  
**Yusuke** : I believe that’s what they refer to as getting dunked on.  
**Akira** : brutal.  
**Ryuji** : shuddup!  
**Ryuji** : ill go but i wont be happy about it  
**Akira** : :D  
**Ann** : awesome. i’m going to get ready for bed. night guys!  
**Yusuke** : Good night!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The following morning was the field trip. Upon arriving at the TV station Akira, Ann, and Ryuji grouped off with Mishima to assist and observe various parts of the TV station running. It was kind of fun for Akira, he had a habit of picking up various jobs to give each one a try out. Part of him figured he did it because he wanted to maybe find a passionate calling, he hadn’t yet, another had thought he was just looking for an excuse not to be home.

The thought train reminded him that he hadn’t looked for any new part time work lately. Plus he had that gun in the bag from Iwai at the gun shop. He needed to look at job listings to get some cash for the Phantom Thieves. The shadows they beat in palaces and Mementos gave them some cash but now they had to gear up Yusuke as well so they needed to budget one more person.

“Akira!” Ryuji gave Akira a hard shake to get his attention,” You get lost in there?” 

“Huh?” Akira looked to his friend who simply tapped the side of his head,” Oh. I was thinking about part time jobs.” 

“Why?” Ann questioned. 

Akira looked around for Mishima to see him trying to sneak off to look for celebrities so he was clear to speak,” The fund for five needs some more cash to it before we decide on another person.” Akira said as vaguely as he could but hoped still made sense.

“Oh! Good idea. I could put some of my modeling money in for it.” Ann offered. 

“No, it’s fine. I’m looking at part time just to fluff it a bit. We get plenty from shadows.” Akira shook his head,” I also just enjoy trying different work.” 

“Seriously?” Ryuji looked almost disgusted. 

“I know. It’s weird.” Akira played with his bangs. 

“Very.”

“But it’s good!” Morgana popped up from Akira’s bag,” Different experiences will make you a good Phantom Thief and a good leader! Keep up that good work!”

“Thank you.” Akira bowed at a slight angle to Morgana.

“The taping is going to start soon.” Ann realized their classmates were moving,” Let’s talk more later!” 

The studio was quiet as the students sat down and the hosts came out to do sound tests. Ryuji kept complaining about being bored and a little upset that this was the show they were taping for. Ann was excited to even see a live taping. Mishima was missing, probably fine, maybe. Akira just sat and stared blankly ahead thinking about what jobs would make him a good thief. Something to improve his dexterity? He needed to be able to think with a cool head in a busy situation so something that had a lot of people would be good.

“Alright quiet please!” One of the staff asked then did a countdown to start the show.

“Today we’ve got a special guest requested by a number of viewers! In light of recent events this guest might be able to provide valuable insight! Please welcome the second coming of the detective price, Goro Akechi!”

Akira’s wandering mind was violently dragged back to his body as he sat up a bit straighter. Indeed it was the very same Akechi who often came to the cafe. He looked over the students as he moved to his seat with a smile and a wave. When he caught sight of Akira he motioned a bit more enthusiastically then sat.

The hosts drove right into talking about Akechi’s work and asking about any cases he’s working on,” Well, there’s a case that’s caught my eye. It’s not a fully fledged one yet but it has me interested. It regards the Phantom Thieves.” small whispers began to ripple through the students.

“Ah yes, they seem to be hailed as heroes of justice by many younger folk. Do you believe they are real?” one host asked as the woman got up to sneak off.

“If they were real that would be very interesting. I would like them to be. Though I must admit I also sometimes wish Santa Claus was real.” Akechi joked earning a laugh from the audience while Ryuji growled in annoyance,” If they were real, however, I think they should be tried in a court of law.” 

“You’re saying what they’re doing is illegal?” the host questioned. 

“Forcing a change of heart on someone is morally questionable, but what if you think of the fact that these changes of heart go beyond just forcing someone to confess crimes? What if they could cause loss of will and in turn cause the accidents we’ve seen a rise in lately?” Akechi laced his fingers together.

“You think that the Phantom Thieves are the cause of the mental shutdowns?!” The host looked around dramatically. 

“No, I don’t think they are. Those accidents have been happening well before the first reported incident of the Phandom Thieves. I do think it would be possible for them to do something like that. Forcing your sense of justice on someone can have dangerous consequences.” Akechi sat back up with a smile,” But that’s all just conjecture as there’s no proof they truly exist. It’s more likely that there was blackmail involved and prison time for their crimes was better than what was happening.”

“The eff? We weren’t blackmailing anyone.” Ryuji hissed, earning a hard elbow in the ribs from Ann. 

“Well, let’s go ahead and see how many in the audience believe the Thieves are real! Each of you should have a button to press so go ahead and pick your answer. Do you believe the Phantom Thieves exist?” The host turned to the number counter behind them to watch as the numbers fluctuated before landing on 50. “Oh-ho. Seems as if half of the audience does!” The host looked excited,” Lets ask one of them what they think of these Phantom Thieves.”

Suddenly Akira was acutely aware of the second host who had popped up beside him with a mic in her hand. She repeated the question to him before offering the microphone to Akira. He looked at it then to Akechi as he thought on what he should say. His mind raced a hundred miles in an instant and his mouth opened before he actually arrived at his mental destination,” I believe the Phantom Thieves are just.” 

“Oh? What makes you think that?” Akechi asked. 

“They seek out criminals and have them confess to their own crimes without hurting any more people.” Akira explained,” They go after people the police can’t without evidence.” 

“I see, so you think just because we don’t have a means to prove them guilty sooner that it’s better to let these Thieves just change the hearts of anyone?” Akechi didn’t sound at all malicious as he spoke but Akira felt like he was being hung out to dry.

“No, but if it can save people from getting hurt isn’t it better to try rather than stand aside and let them suffer?” Akira launched back with his own question. 

“I suppose you have a point.” Akechi smiled sweetly and the woman with the mic moved on to ask someone else what they thought. After a few more questions and a love confession the taping wrapped up,” You certainly know how to surprise me.” Akechi’s voice caught up to Akira as he tried to follow Ann and Ryuji out,” To paraphrase Hegel, advancement cannot occur without thesis and antithesis.” Akira’s confused expression was probably enough to tell Akechi that he had lost the other teen,” I mean to say that our conversation about the Phantom Thieves was rather meaningful. Very few people are willing to speak their mind like that when put on the spot. Behind a mask of anonymity people can admit to being for or against something but when faced with it in person they’ll go with whatever is least problematic to admit.”

“I just said what I believe.” Akira shook his head.

“Yes and that’s what makes you impressive Kusuru-kun.” Akechi grinned,” I already enjoyed the simple banter we shared at the cafe but I wonder how much more open you would be without Boss looking over your shoulder. Would you be against meeting outside of the cafe sometime?” 

“Are you asking me on a date?” Akira said as jokingly as he could. 

“Hm. Perhaps I am.” Akechi jabbed back and Akira was suddenly pumping the breaks as hard as he could. 

“I was just kidding!” Akira flushed bright red. 

“I thought you might have been. Let’s exchange contact info? I’ll text you when I have free time.” Akechi pulled out his phone prompting Akira to do the same,” Thank you Kurusu-kun.” 

“Akira are you comin’?” Ryuji called from behind them. 

“Yeah!” Akira bowed to Akechi in farewell before leaving quickly. His heart was pounding and he had a tickle in his chest that threatened to send him into another coughing fit. He caught up to Ann and Ryuji physically but his mind was still thinking about the interaction he’d had with Akechi. 

“Where should we eat before we head home?” Ryuji asked.

“Oh I know! I wanna go to that pancake shaped building from before!” Morgana wiggled out of Akira’s bag. 

“A what now?” Ann questioned. 

“Sounds like he means Dome Town.” Ryuji kicked his foot against the ground,” They do have some good food there.” 

“Akira you haven’t been yet right? We should go! My stomach is ready for roller coasters.” Ann grinned and Akira worried. He hadn’t been on one yet.

“I think I’ll pass on the pukey rides.” Morgana moved back into Akira’s bag a bit out of fear just as Akechi approached them. 

“Sorry to intrude, you dropped this,” Akechi offered something to Akira. He looked back to catch sight of his journal. In an instant his stomach bottomed out,” I didn’t open it I promise.” Akechi comforted him and passed the journal back,” You three are on your way to eat cake?” 

“Cake?” Ryuji looked confused and Akira had to agree.

“Was I mistaken? I thought I heard something about delicious pancakes.” Akechi pressed a curled finger to his chin before shrugging it off,” My mistake, maybe I heard someone else. You have fun. I have another meeting to attend before I can go home. I’ll see you around Kurusu-kun.” 

Once Akechi was gone Ann turned to look back at Akira with her lips curled into a coy smile,” Why, Akira-kun, I’d almost think you and that detective boy have met before? He seemed to know you pretty well.” 

“He’s a regular at the cafe.” Akira attempted to explain away,” I met him when I first got here.” 

“Ohhh? You never talk about him!” Ann looped an arm with Akira’s as they began to leave. 

“There’s nothing to talk about. He drinks his coffee, we talk about stuff, he leaves.” Akira didn’t like where this was going. 

“What kind of stuff?! We need details, Akira.” Ann insisted. 

“Just stuff! This was the first time we talked about the Phantom Thieves.” Akira admitted.

“It might be useful to get close to him to find out how the police investigations are going.” Morgana spoke from Akira’s bag.

“You were just telling me not to get too close.” Akira looked back at his bag with a deadpan expression. 

“That was before! Akechi seems really lax around you. He might let things slip.” Morgana popped out to climb on Akira’s shoulder,” Just be careful how you two talk about us. Don’t give yourself away.” 

“I won’t.” Akira cleared his throat. There was a scratchy feeling back there. It wasn’t as bad as the other night but it had a similar feeling, maybe he was getting a cold. It might be time to visit Takemi for a check up.

_** YUSUKE KITAGAWA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _11:36am: **Yusuke** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yusuke:** Akira, would it be possible for me to go to the cafe a bit early?  
**Akira** : yeah.  
**Akira** : what’s up?  
**Yusuke** : I wanted to greet Sakura-san and speak with him personally before the others arrive.  
**Akira** : i already talked to boss and explained the situation.  
**Akira** : he said he doesn’t mind.  
**Akira** : since he’s already got one freeloader another won’t change much.  
**Yusuke** : I see. I would still like to come early. I can assist in setting up the hotpot.  
**Akira** : sure. i’ll be waiting for you then.  
**Yusuke** : Excellent.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ THE PHANTOM THIEVES _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _2:17am: **Ann** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ann:** i seriously can’t get akira’s story out of my head.  
**Ann** : it’s so fucked that you got a criminal record for trying to help someone.  
**Ann** : she should have told the truth!  
**Ann** : it really boils my blood.  
**Yusuke** : I have to agree that it is upsetting. Akira is truly a saint.  
**Ann** : right?!  
**Ann** : we’re just lucky that it didn’t put him off helping people.  
**Ann** : ryuji and i would be screwed without him.  
**Yusuke** : I can attest I would also still be where I was.  
**Ann** : yeah… ):  
**Ryuji** : if that lady had been honest then akira wouldnt be here right now  
**Ann** : ah.  
**Ann** : right.  
**Yusuke** : It is a dilemma. You want better for someone you care about but if their circumstances had been better we would have been worse off for it.  
**Ann** : ugh.  
**Ann** : i hate that akira getting screwed was the only way we would have met.  
**Akira** : (⇀‸↼)  
**Ann** : sorry. we woke you huh?  
**Akira** : (-‸-)  
**Ryuji** : sorry bro  
**Yusuke** : He made a grumbling sound at his phone then rolled over.  
**Yusuke** : Oh, he’s gathered up his blankets and has decided to lay down with me.  
**Ann** : aw.  
**Yusuke** : I have become the little spoon. 🥄  
**Yusuke** : I’m going to put my phone away. He’s trying to shove it away from me anyway.  
**Ann** : sorry again! sleep well guys!  
**Ann** : before that though... :3c  
**Ryuji** : ?  


**Ann changed Akira’s name to big spoon.**

**Ann changed Yusuke’s name to little spoon.**

**Ann:** perfect.  
**Ryuji** : LOL  
**Ryuji** : night ann  
**Ann** : night!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ THE PHANTOM THIEVES _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _10:06am: **big spoon** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**big spoon** : what is my name?  
**Ann** : fun!  
**big spoon:** i still don’t actively remember crawling into bed with yusuke last night.  
**big spoon** : i was very surprised this morning.  
**little spoon:** It was comforting to be held as I slept.  
**big spoon** : any time bb.  
**Ann** : is he still waking up?  
**little spoon** : I believe so.  
**big spoon** : it was like holding a bony pillow.  
**big spoon** : but we can change nicknames in here huh?  
**Ann** : yeah! i was waiting for the right moment.  


**big spoon changed Ann’s name to cake pan.**

**big spoon changed Ryuji’s name to potato masher.**

**big spoon has changed the group name to everything but the kitchen sink.**

**cake pan** : omg  
**little spoon** : I watched him type very furiously.  
**cake pan** : this is much better.  
**potato masher** : wtf  
**big spoon** : good morning. i’m still sleepy.  
**potato masher** : same but you went wild didnt you?  
**big spoon** : we are now the kitchen thieves of spoons.  
**big spoon** : fear us or may your cakes be liquid and your potatoes solid.  
**big spoon** : rawr.  
**cake pan** : is he type ab?  
**little spoon** : He’s laid back down to sleep.  
**cake pan** : i think he needs it. lmao  
**cake pan** : let’s talk more later.  
**potato masher** : potato masher tho? for real?  
**potato masher:** i dont have the spoons to deal with this  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so akechi still gives himself away bc it's important later but it'll be in a different way. needless to say this chapter was just a in-between to get to some of the meaty bits i've been rather proud of. the type ab thing comes from japanese blood type stereotyping. bascially someone ab can come across as rather silly in the mornings or VERY grumpy. if i remember right and my lazy search wasn't that lazy.
> 
> also i have no beta. my husband hasn't been feeling well enough to read for corrections so i'm going blind y'all. ✌️


	4. first petals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto's blackmailing starts off, Ryuji gets to cosplay Akira, and Akria goes to therapy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so in this chapter i detail how i handle my version of hanahaki. it's a little wild but everyone has to add their own flair! this is also the chapter where my obvious meddling with what exists of the time line gets crazy. i hope that it's in an enjoyable way. <3

_**everything but the kitchen sink**_

**__** **_{_ ** _10:06am: **potato masher** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**potato masher** : did we seriously just get blackmailed by the student council prez?  
**cake pan** : gotta admit, i didn’t think she had it in her.  
**cake pan:** but i guess it tracks with rumors.  
**little spoon** : This is a bit troubling.  
**little spoon** : I do hope that there’s something we can actually do here.  
**cake pan:** finding a mob boss is going to be hard…  
**big spoon** : well, i gathered my nuts recently and started to talk with the gun store guy.  
**cake pan** : and?  
**potato masher** : is he mob?  
**big spoon** : he was at some point.  
**big spoon** : maybe he can help out. i’ll see what i can find out.  
**little spoon:** Our leader is truly inspiring.  
**little spoon** : Shall I paint you a portrait?  
**big spoon** : no that’s alright.  
**big spoon:** maybe just make sure i don’t accidently down another paint water cup in the middle of the night?  
**little spoon** : I will remember to empty them all before bed.  
**cake pan:** how long do you plan to stay with akira, yusuke?  
**little spoon** : I think I might head to the dorms soon after all.  
**big spoon** : it’s mona’s snoring isn’t it?  
**little spoon** : Yes, he is horribly loud.  
**little spoon** : Truly though, I appreciate everything you and Boss have done for me.  
**little spoon:** My plan to go to the student dorms comes after a lot of thought.  
**little spoon** : I need to stand on my own two feet. I can’t just stay at Leblanc until I’m ready.  
**little spoon** : I’m going to try to be my own man. Someone you can be proud of.  
**big spoon:** YUSUKE.  
**cake pan** : i’m a total mess rn guys.  
**potato masher** : DAMNIT  
**little spoon** : I’m sorry! Did I say something wrong?  
**big spoon** : that was beautiful and i love you.  
**little spoon** : 😳  
**cake pan** : :O  
**potato masher** : whoa  
**big spoon** : it’s platonic!  
**little spoon:** Oh.  
**big spoon** : i’m sorry to disappoint.  
**big spoon** : there is someone i might like.  
**big spoon:** i’m still not sure but yeah.  
**cake pan** : WHO?!  
**big spoon** : 🤐  
**cake pan:** tease!  
**little spoon** : I would also like to know who has caught our leader’s eye.  
**potato masher** : judging from the fact he tried for mishima and said im not his type i have no idea  
**little spoon:** Mishima?  
**big spoon** : he runs the phan-site. we went on a date. he’s cute but not my kind of bf material.  
**little spoon** : What is your type if you don’t mind my asking?  
**big spoon** : apparently an intellectual with a pension for dramatics.  
**cake pan** : isn’t hat yusuke?  
**potato masher** : sounds like yusuke  
**little spoon** : Does it?  
**big spoon** : it's not yusuke. tho he does have a fantastic ass.  
**little spoon** : Thank you.  
**big spoon** : best ass on the team.  
**cake pan** : i can agree with that.  
**potato masher** : are we rating butts?  
**potato masher** : i gotta rate akiras as second then  
**cake pan:** ryuji’s is dead last.  
**potato masher** : what about monas!?  
**cake pan** : cat butts are still cute.  
**big spoon** : he wants to argue about being called a cat but he’s struggling because of the praise with it. haha.  
**potato masher** : so im the butt of the joke  
**big spoon** : you’re the one who put me in second.  
**potato masher** : i played myself  
**big spoon** : you did. coming from the second best ass on the team this meeting is adjourned.  
**big spoon** : i got a hot yazuka dad to talk to.  
**potato masher** : i worry about you sometimes  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** MUNEHISA IWAI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _5:09pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira:** could you maybe use the help of a dashing young high schooler?  
**Iwai** : you’re still around?  
**Akira** : until my probation is up, yes.  
**Iwai** : trying to sound like a badass huh?  
**Akira** : i’m bad to the bone.  
**Iwai** : ha.  
**Iwai** : yeah sure. come by.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira returned from working with Iwai a little after eight. He got a little info on a drug carrier for Kaneshiro. He just hoped it would be enough. It really didn’t help that he spotted Makoto following him around when he was working. 

“Welcome home.” Akechi’s voice caught Akira’s attention as he closed the cafe door.

“Honey, I’m home.” Akira countered with a sweet smile of his own. 

“Welcome home, Akira. I saved you some curry.” Yusuke leaned back to look around Akechi to Akira,” I’ve been having a rather pleasant Akechi-san.” 

“I’m intrigued that you know Kitagawa-kun. How did you come to know him?” Akechi questioned and Akira broke into a heavy sweat in an instant. Why had they not come up with a good excuse after Makoto caught them.

“Akira answered an ad I had placed for a painting model.” Yusuke answered cleanly and Akira was caught with his mouth hanging wide open. Yusuke was very good,” He asked me on a date after and I couldn’t turn him down after he’d been so charming.” Good. Great. Now Yusuke had gone too far. He wanted to die,” I’m joking of course. Shortly after we started the piece he was modeling for me, my teacher… well, if you’ve seen the news you’ll know what he did. Akira contacted me for more work and when I explained I was freshly homeless he offered me to stay here.” 

Akira was very tempted to just walk up and kiss Yusuke full on the mouth right then and there but Akechi was there,” I see. You take on a lot of different jobs don’t you Kurusu-kun?” 

“The experiences are fun.” Akira cleared his throat a little when he felt a tickle then moved to sit with the other two,” One day I might find a job that inspires me and I’ll make that my occupation. I am running short on time to find that though.” 

“Oh? A jack-of-all-trades type?” Akechi raised an eyebrow,” Perhaps you would like to try detective work?” 

“Uh,” Akira looked to Yusuke,” I mean it would be cool?”

“I have a case I’m looking into that I wouldn’t mind an assistant on.” Akechi looked to Akira,” If you have time tomorrow you could join me to look into it?” 

Akira exchanged a quick look with Yusuke from across the counter before he said the first thing that came to mind,” Sounds like a good time.” Akira pushed his glasses up closer to his face.

“Great. Have you been to Shinjuku yet?” Akechi question.

“Not yet.” Akira shook his head,” I haven’t really wandered around too much.” 

“Well, we’ll go there tomorrow evening. I promise not to keep you out too late.” Akechi finished his coffee then pulled out his payment,” Can you make it to Shinjuku on your own?” 

“I’ve come to understand the train system, I can manage.” Akira leaned back to let Akechi stand and pick up his briefcase,” Where should I meet you?” 

“Outside of a bar called the Crossroads at six.” Akechi paused to pull a piece of paper and a pen from his briefcase to write on it then handed it to Akira,” I’ll see you then.” 

“Grand.” Akira pook the paper to tuck into his front pocket,” See you then.” Akira watched as Akechi left. Once he was gone Akira turned to Yusuke,” What the fuck did I just do?” 

“I think you gained a lead?” Yusuke wasn’t sure either,” Are you alright? You’re red. Oh! Is Akechi-san--” Yusuke started to question but before he could finish Akira broke into a cough.

It lasted for longer than some of the others had so far and it made him cling to the bar to stop from falling over. He covered his mouth just in time for something soft, wet, and red to fall into his hand. He held a hand out to look at the object as Yusuke leaned in to look as well.

“Akira, that’s--” Yusuke looked from the obvious flower petal to Akira’s face,” that’s a flower?” 

“Do not tell anyone.” Akira said quickly as he shoved the petal in his pocket as Sojiro came out of the bathroom. Akira ignored Yusuke’s attempt to start the conversation again with a wave of his hand,” Got a lot of homework to do. Thanks for the meal Boss.” Akira said quickly as he only shoved half of his curry into his mouth.

Once Akira escaped to his room Yusuke followed after. Morgana was out in the neighborhood so it was just the two of them now,” Akira we need to talk about that flower--”

“No.” Akira dismissed it.

“Akira!” Yusuke snapped as he approached him and forced him to turn around,” This isn’t something to take lightly!” 

“Quiet down! Sojiro will hear you-” Akira tried to put a hand over Yusuke’s mouth.

“Then _talk_ to me.” Yusuke hissed as he moved Akira’s mouth away,” Tell me what’s going on.” 

Akira looked at Yusuke’s face before lowering his hands and sitting on the edge of his bed,” That’s the first to come up.” Akira said,” I don’t know what it is.” He took the petal out to look at it.

“You’re sure it’s the first?” Yusuke questioned suspiciously.

“I swear on the Phantom Thieves good name that it’s the first.” Akira held a hand up. 

“Is it Akechi-san?” Yusuke moved to sit with him, looking much more at ease.

“I think so.” Akira admitted,” I don’t know when it rooted, but it’s only the first petal. I have time.” 

“What do you plan to do?” Yusuke asked.

“I can’t exactly tell Akechi-kun to never come back to the cafe because I’m going to have a life saving surgery due to my cowardice.” Akira tried to make light of the situation.

“You won’t just tell him how you feel?” Yusuke wondered. 

“No. There’s too much risk. He’s a detective, we’re thieves.” Akira thumbed over the petal wondering what it was. He might have to wait until a full bloom falls out,” Yusuke, please keep this between us. I’ll deal with it, but I need you to keep this secret.” 

Yusuke looked at Akira trying to read his mind or something before he let out a sigh,” I’ll keep this secret. However, you need to talk to your doctor about this. She should be able to help with treatment options until it’s either safe to remove or things between you two work out.” 

“Yeah, I mean, I’m already two months into my probation. People have lived up to two or three years before dying to their gardens.” Akira tried to be optimistic,” So I just have to live out my probation with this.” 

“Or perhaps your meeting with Akechi-san tomorrow will encourage you to even entertain the idea that you could work.” Yusuke smiled softly,” Either way I’ll support you, just let me know when you need help. I’ll try to help you hide this.” 

“Thanks Yusuke.” Akira bumped their shoulders together,” When are you moving out by the way?” 

“I was going to leave tomorrow.” Yusuke answered as he looked across the room to the still wrapped painting of his mother,” I think I’m going to leave her here.” 

“You sure?”

“If I take her with me and try to hang her in my room people will call it fake. The Sayuri is a memorable art piece for art students. I don’t want to leave her wrapped up and hidden away. At least here she’ll be seen.” Yusuke explained with a faint smile,” I was going to have Boss hang her.” 

“I think she would like that and he would too. This place needs more art.” Akira joked but reached an arm around to give Yusuke a hug anyway,” We’ll figure this out.” 

“We will, any idea on the petal by the way?” Yusuke looked at Akira's other hand. 

“Nope! I was looking at a job with a flower shop. Might be a good idea to take it.” Akira turned the petal over again,” I don’t think this is a rose but we’ll see.” 

“Let me know when you find out.”

“I will. Promise.”

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:24pm: **big spoon** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**big spoon:** not much from iwai but maybe i can get something out of akechi.  
**potato masher** : the detective from the tv station?  
**big spoon** : yeah. he asked me to go along with him on a case he’s looking into tomorrow.  
**cake pan** : isn’t it dangerous to try doing that?  
**big spoon** : maybe. but mona said it himself, it’s not a bad idea to try and use akechi to get info the police have.  
**potato masher** : so where is he having you go?  
**big spoon:** shinjuku.  
**big spoon:** a bar called crossroads.  
**potato masher** : should i head there too in case you need some back up?  
**big spoon** : i should be fine. thanks ryuji.  
**little spoon** : I think the rest of us should be on stand-by just in case.  
**big spoon** : if it helps you relax.  
**big spoon** : if i get anything i’ll let you guys know asap.  
**big spoon** : for now maybe distract the prez?  
**big spoon** : she was following me around hardcore today.  
**big spoon:** it actually got iwai paranoid. he started to ask if i knew her.  
**big spoon** : i think he was worried she was working for some guy giving him a shit time.  
**big spoon** : i’m digressing, point is that i don’t need akechi noticing her too.  
**cake pan** : yeah. he’d wonder why you have her following you around.  
**cake pan** : how do we get her attention though? she clearly already has you pegged as our leader.  
**little spoon** : We could put a wig and Akira’s glasses on Ryuji?  
**cake pan** : that might work! they both have poor posture.  
**potato masher** : hey!  
**big spoon** : i do. please help me. my back is crying out.  
**little spoon** : I can help.  
**big spoon** : yusuke just put his hand on my lower back to force me to sit up straight.  
**big spoon** : this is the straightest i’ve been in three years.  
**cake pan** : asdkl;ghsdl;kg akira pls.  
**little spoon** : He hunched over even worse after I removed my hand again.  
**big spoon** : i have to catch up on precious posture ruining.  
**potato masher** : ok so i gotta look for a wig  
**cake pan:** i have one! i’ll have to style it but it’ll work.  
**big spoon** : i’ll give you my glasses at school.  
**potato masher** : how do we make sure she doesnt realize im not you?  
**potato masher** : i mean how do we hide akira when im leaving school?  
**big spoon:** i could go to therapy.  
**cake pan:** i went! it helped a lot.  
**big spoon:** i’m sold.  
**big spoon:** ryuji make sure you lead her as far away as possible.  
**potato masher:** sounds like a trip to akiba  
**big spoon:** good.  
**potato masher:** you sure youll be good without your glasses though?  
**big spoon:** they’re fake.  
**cake pan:** why do you wear fake glasses?  
**big spoon:** they make me look unassuming and friendly.  
**potato masher:** uh  
**cake pan:** hm.  
**little spoon:** Looking at him right now I have to agree actually.  
**big spoon:** best ass has spoken. my logic is perfect.  
**cake pan:** yeah ok.  
**cake pan** : ryuji i’ll go with you.  
**cake pan** : we’ll try to be convincing.  
**little spoon** : I’ll be in Shibuya in case Akira needs assistance.  
**big spoon:** great. we’ve got a solid plan here. good job team.  
**cake pan** : :D  
**little spoon** : Good luck everyone.  
**potato masher** : we got this  
**big spoon** : alright. make sure you get good sleep tonight. see ya.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The following day Akira met with Ann and Ryuji after school. Ann brought the wig in a bag to hand off before the two boys made their way to the bathroom where Makoto couldn’t follow. 

“Man, I had to bring this stupid shirt today and everything.” Ryuji complained as he pulled off his red t-shirt to put on the white school polo. Once he had that on he took off his suspenders to stash it all in his bag,” Alright how am I lookin?” 

“Like a diligent student who gives a fuck.” Akira gave a thumbs up,” Now to make you look like me.” Akira took the wig out of the bag to look it over,” She made this look good.”

“Let’s try it on.” Ryuji took the wig to fit it onto his head. Once he had it in place he looked into the mirror,” Holy shit we’re like twins.” Ryuji adjusted the bangs a little to get them sitting more in his face like Akira had,” Glasses.” 

“Yes leader.” Akira passed his glasses to Ryuji. Once he had them on the transformation was complete,” Very nice. Just carry your bag like I do and you’ll be all set.” Akira eyed Ryuji up,” I’m impressed, this might actually work.” 

“I hope like hell it does.” Ryuji pulled his bag onto his shoulder then tried to imitate Akira’s slouch,” Alright, I’ll head out first and text you when I see Niijima so you can leave.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll let you know when I’m clear.” Akira played with his bangs as he leaned back against the counter,” Maybe I’ll change my hair a little.” he looked back at the mirror then started to run the water to try doing something different. He was working on pushing his hair over to one side when a ping sounded from his phone. Makoto had taken the bait and he was free to move.

He moved quietly through the school to the nurse’s office. Maruki was already standing outside talking with Kasumi Yoshizawa. When Akira approached Maruki and Kasumi looked at him,” I was wondering how long it’d take for you to come for a session.”

“How are you senpai?” Kasumi greeted him with a bow.

“I’m well, thank you Yoshizawa-san.” Akira returned her greeting then looked at Maruki,” If you’re busy I can come back.”

“We just finished up.” Kasumi shook her head,” Maruki-sensei is a great counselor. I’ve been seeing him since before he even came to Shujin.”

“Don’t try to oversell me too much, Yoshizawa-san, I don’t want to disappoint if I’m not up to standards.” Maruki gave a nervous laugh as he looked to her.

“Oh! I’m sorry doctor. Well, I have practice soon so I’m going to get going. I’ll be seeing you senpai!” Kasumi bowed to Akira and Maruki then left.

“What say we get started?” Maruki motioned for Akira to follow him into his office,” Thank you for coming.” 

“Well, the school says I’ve got to. Can’t hurt either way I think.” Akira looked around the nurse’s office,” A little nervous though.”

“Fair enough, let’s take a seat.” Maruki motions for Akira to sit as he moves around to sit as well,” Now, there’s no reason to be nervous. Just treat this like any normal conversation and we’ll get started.”

“Cool.” Akira sat,” So where do I start?” 

“Wherever you’re comfortable with.”

“Hmm, I guess I’ll start with how I got here?” Akira isn’t sure but this is therapy so he should talk about his problems right? He explains about how he ended up with his assault record and how he’d been sent to Tokyo for his probation. 

“I see, the school had given me a brief rundown of the situation that lead you to being here but I have to admit it’s different from what they told me.” Maruki said thoughtfully. 

“Yeah, I’m sure they made it sound like I’m a punk with no regard for other people.” Akira said bitterly,” I was just trying to help that woman.”

“I understand.” 

“Well, it’s in the past.” Akira shrugged. 

“Did you have to force yourself to accept everything that’s happened to you?” Maruki questioned. 

“I guess?” 

“I only ask because I get the sense that you’ve managed to mostly reconcile your internal world with your external one.” Maruki explained, only confusing Akira more,” It’s actually very impressive. Most adults can manage to reliably manage such a thing.” Akira wore his confusion as Maruki started to mutter about Akira’s maturity. Maruki seemed to take notice after a minute then explained,” People for the most part carry around their own conception of reality. Like a version of themselves they strive to be or how to act. For example, trying to be a model student or wishing to be loved and relied on. Things like that. However, the idealized reality is often different from the actual life they live. That gap in personal perception and reality often leads people to feel inept or suffering from what they can’t control.

“Not everyone can be a top student and not everyone can be the hero they want to be. The fact you’ve been through so much suffering already makes you rather impressive. You were charged falsely and forced away from your home, but rather than end up in a dark place you’ve embraced it.” Maruki smiled.

“That’s a lot to take away from me saying offhandedly that I’ve put what happened to me in the past.” Akira said almost deadpan. 

“Oh. I’m sorry. I sometimes get carried away.” Maruki chuckled,” If I’m mistaken please tell me.” 

“You-you’re not.” Akira looked away,” It was hard at first, and I thought about the fact I was discarded so quickly in a bad way. But I didn’t get time to dwell on that, I made friends and with them I just don’t have time to think about the bullshit that put me here. I’ve been having fun.” 

“Having a support system in place is incredibly important and I’m glad you have one.” Maruki gave him a soft smile,” Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?” 

“What do you know about hanahaki?” Akira chanced. 

“Hanahaki? I know a fair bit. The physiological trigger for the disease comes from the psychological understanding that a person loves another but feels there’s no chance of it being returned.” Maruki explains,” Do you have this Kusuru-kun?” 

“Uhm,” Akira wished he had dodged this topic now. 

“Let’s speak as if you hypothetically have it. What would you like to know?” Maruki seems to sense Akira’s hesitation so he changes the flow of the conversation and Akira is greatful.

“What would happen if I were to get the surgery to remove the garden but the person it bloomed for is still part of my life?”

“Ah, a difficult position to be in. It’s not just recommended but required to remove yourself from spaces the garden source is from. I understand that it’s hard for you to manage anything like that given your situation though.” 

“Yeah, so what happens if I have to share a space with this person while still suffering from the disease?” 

“Well, depending on the level of interaction the growth could be very fast or very slow.” Maruki touches his chin as he thinks,” The more interaction you have with the person in question can cause more blooms. It’s due to stronger feelings of love taking root. The more you care for the person involved the faster the garden grows.” 

“And the less time spent the less growth.” Akira concludes.

“That’s right. Hypothetically what stage would you be at now?” Maruki asks.

“Hypothetically I coughed up a petal last night.” Akira answered. 

“Just the one?” Maruki confirmed,” How long have you and this person been meeting?” 

“Since I got here in April.”

“Then hypothetically you have plenty of time to decide what you would like to do. If you were already at the point of full blossoms I would have to report this hypothetical conversation to your guardian. However given your age and the stage we can leave it at this.” Maruki offered Akira a soft smile,” With that we’re about out of time. I do have one request if you don’t mind.” 

“What’s up?” 

“I’m actually doing some research alongside my duties as a counselor. It’s not so much counseling--it's more like a type of psychological treatment. It’s an attempt to learn more about people’s metaphorical hearts. Like how they feel and think. With enough support I think I can help a lot of people with it. Even those who still suffer hanahaki. If you don’t mind, I wonder if you would like to help me with it?” Maruki requested.

“What would I need to do?” 

“Nothing too difficult, just listen to my theories to see if they spark any ideas on your end. In exchange I can give you tips on mental training and maybe we can find a way to overcome that hanahaki you hypothetically have.” 

“Thank you.” Akira nodded.

“So let’s do the mental training and I’ll let you go.” Maruki sat up a bit to start explaining his mental training tips.

With his therapy session concluded Akira checked his phone again for a message from Ryuji that he and Ann were on their way to Akihabara with Makoto hot on their tails,” Time to go get changed.” Akira told himself as he headed home to get out of his uniform first.

He let Sojiro know he was meeting with Akechi to ‘hang out’ before he set off on his mission to find the Crossroads bar. On his way he ran into Yusuke waiting by the line he needed to take,” What’re you doing here?” 

“Akira, I was hoping to catch you before you went.” Yusuke greeted him,” I know you haven’t had time to see your doctor so I spoke with someone who’d recovered from their own problem before.” Yusuke said carefully as Morgana popped out of Akira’s bag,” This is for you. It should help your cough.” 

Akira looked at the bottle. It was a medication meant to break up chest congestion triggered by hanahaki. He quickly put the bottle in his pocket to hide from Morgana,” You didn’t need to do that.” 

“It wouldn’t be good if you started to have a coughing fit in front of Akechi-san.” Yusuke explained his reasoning,” Now, remember if you need backup I’ll be a short train ride away. I saved enough money to ensure I’ll be able to make it there.”

“Can you make it back after?” Akira raised an eyebrow.

“That’s not important.” Yusuke tried to dismiss it.

“Yusuke…” Akira made an expression of worry before digging into his pocket to give Yusuke money,” Consider this your allowance for official Kitchen Thieves business. Got it? _That includes eating._ ” 

“Akira.” Yusuke looked down at the cash in his hands,” Thank you.” 

“Good! I’ve got to go meet Akechi now. Get a snack while you wait around. I’ll let you know when I’m done.” Akira waved then set off.

“What’s that bottle Yusuke gave you?” Morgana asked as he hung over Akira’s shoulder. 

“Cough meds.” Akira didn’t want to get into his hanahaki with Morgana, but he didn’t know how long he would be able to keep it a secret. Morgana was around him all the time, not telling him at all was looking less and less like an option. With a heavy sigh Akira took the bottle out to turn it over in his hand,” It’s to break up the garden growing in my chest.” Akira admitted.

“Garden?” Morgana questioned with an ear flick.

“Do you know what hanahaki is?” Akira questioned after they got onto the train.

“No.”

“It’s a disease that doesn’t happen in too many people anymore,” Akira began to explain,” Like, 2% of the population can get it still. I’m lucky enough to be born with the genes that let me contract it.” 

“What’s it do?” Morgana sounded worried now.

“It causes flowers to grow in my lungs.” Akira rested a hand on his chest,” If not treated it can cause death.” 

“Death?!” Morgana shot up,” How do we stop it?!” 

“There’s two options, remove it via surgery, or have your feelings mutually returned.” Akira counted the options on his fingers as he explained.

“Feelings?” 

“The disease is caused by the perception of unrequited love.” Akira explained,” You fall in love with someone and to stop the garden from suffocating you, you have to confess. If the feelings are not returned you go through a death bloom where every bulb growing in your chest opens all at once, floods your throat, and you choke to death.” 

“T-that’s horrible!” Morgana’s ears folded back against his head,” Isn’t it safer to remove it with surgery?” 

“It is. It’s the route most people go,” Akira explained,” But it causes memories of the person involved to vanish. So getting them removed only works if you won’t see the person involved for a long time or ever again.” 

“So, getting it removed right now isn’t possible?” Morgana asked.

“That’s right. People have lived for upwards of three years with this. Mine just stated. I’ll be fine.” Akira promised with a smile to Morgana,” And starting medicine to counter it early helps. So can I count on you not to talk to the others about it? Yusuke knows and that’s all I’d like to know. I wouldn’t have even told him. He just happened to be there when I spit up a petal.” Akira sighed.

“I’ll keep it between us.” Morgana agreed,” If you get into a coughing fit I’ll make something up for you.” 

“Thanks Mona.” Akira reached back to give the cat a soft pet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the gears are turning in yusuke's head as he starts to try figuring out what he can do to help akira. akira's just busy trying to keep them all from being arrested. this does start my playing around with yusuke/akira for extra drama bc i am into that style of bullshit. now, i am super not a therapist, and there's some stuff in other chapters where maruki talks too. i'm bullshitting the best i can pls be gentle. i'm a big fan of maruki and would die for him. he's my style of idiot good boy. that said i am also a fan of calling a hanahaki lung infection a garden. it makes it sound so much more innocent but god it's deadly AF. next update might be a while out. idk. my steam is still going strong so we'll see. thanks for readin'!


	5. just spent 100k on rock salt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akira goes with akechi to shinjuku to gather intel. before he can get there he gets hounded by advertisers and scammed by a fortune teller. tonight is not his night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my husband: you're updating your fic pretty fast  
> me: i'm still keeping 4+ chapters apart  
> my husband: ky what the fuck
> 
> enjoy the treats.

Akira’s arrival in Shinjuku went as flawlessly as it could. The train took a direct route there so he couldn’t get lost. Finding the bar itself was a little different. Almost every five feet there was someone else trying to sell him something. He was sure at least four of those things were related to sex in some way and one might have been a jab at him needing more muscles. He was early to meet with Akechi though, so to avoid a rather determined looking man in a suit from selling him something, Akira sat at a fortune teller’s table. 

“Hi.” Akira said almost deadpan as he held his bag in his arms.

“Hello, I was waiting for you.” the woman said.

“Uh, because you saw my future?” Akira looked at her nervously.

“I saw you stumbling toward me trying to avoid more street advertisers.” she answered with a smile,” My name is Chihaya Mifune, would you like a reading?” 

“Yes?” 

“Could I have your name?” Chihaya asked and Akira gave it,” Alright, what kind of package would you like today?” 

“I guess the whole thing?” Akira leaned back a little to check his surroundings. The advertiser was still looking at him and it sent a chill down his spine.

“I do suppose the life of a high schooler can be quite daunting. Let’s get a feel for your life right now,” Chiyaha started to shuffle the cards before dealing them out. Once they were placed she began to turn them over. Her expression was serious as got to the end,” Hm.”

“What’s the diagnosis?” Akira asked. 

“Well, the cards tell of fortune in your future,” Chihaya said motioning over one day,” but also about something further off. A betrayal?” Chihaya looked troubled,” Um. It’s an interesting read, it places you as an inmate locked away in a lonely cell. You’re going to face ruin? The cards say you’re a good person but you’re mixed in something dangerous.” 

“Ah, you could say that…” Akira nodded nervously.

“If you continue on your current path it will lead to death, it looks like… camellia flowers?” Chihaya inspected the cards very closely now and Akira felt his blood turn icy. Chiyaha wasn’t a fraud at all. No one but him, Yusuke, and Morgana knew about his hanahaki.

“Is there a way to avoid it?” Akira asked as he squeezed his bag tightly, Morgana complaining within.

“I can’t offer advice to that sadly, once a fate is read it cannot be undone.” Chihaya looked down sadly,” Wait, no,” she snapped her head up to look at Akira,” there might yet be something we can do!” Chiyaha turned from him and began to rummage through a box at her side until she pulled out a pinkish crystal looking rock,” My special spiritual object: the Holy Stone! With its power in your hands, you can avoid this fate! ( _Probably._ ) I usually only recommend this to my most loyal customers but your situation is too dire to just ignore! You see, the stone is imbued with an aura or joy that will sap away the negative energy surrounding you.”

‘ _Ah. She’s trying to sell me something.’_ Akira thought to himself as Chiyaha spoke. He was tempted to just get up and leave her alone but she had talked about the prison, the prison of the Velvet Room seemed to hit that just right. Then she mentioned flowers, he wasn’t sure if what he was dying to just yet were camellia but the fact she had mentioned something close to hanahaki was enough to scare him.

“How much?” Akira asked quickly. 

“Oh. Uh, just one hundred thousand yen.” Chiyaha answered and before she could say more Akira pulled the cash out to give to her. It would hit the Phantom Fund for a bit but they’d make it back in Momentos or whatever palace they ended up in next,” Oh! Okay. Uh, here.” Chiyaha pushed the stone to him,” Keep it wrapped in that cloth and take it out each fullmoon to charge its energy.”

“Hey isn’t that like all our funds?” Morgana spoke from his bag but Akira ignored him. 

“Alright well, here’s your Holy Stone!” Chihaya smiled,” please feel free to stop by again to let me know how your fate has changed.” 

“Alright.” Akira took the stone then stood up. He pushed Morgana aside then slipped the stone inside.

“You seriously just spent a hundred thousand yen on this?” Morgana questioned him,” Is this because you’re worried about the hanahaki?” 

“Don’t bring that up.” Akira frowned as he walked away,” But yes.” 

“Alright, well, hopefully it works.” Morgana settled back into Akira’s bag as he spotted Akechi. 

“Sorry if I kept you waiting.” Akira apologized once he was in range.

“That’s alright. I figured you probably had as many people trying to sell you things as I had.” Akechi smiled,” Let’s head inside.” Akechi turned to lead the two of them into the bar. As soon as the door shut behind him Akira was greeted by a deep voiced woman behind the bar. In front of her was a smaller woman he thought looked familiar. It was the reporter they’d met outside of Madarame’s house. He really hoped she didn’t recognize him. 

“Those two are with me Lala-chan.” the woman, Ohya if Akira remembered right, said with a smile,” We’re gunna take the table in the back.” Ohya stood then led the two younger men toward the back of the bar,” I’m impressed you kept your word Akechi-kun. With respect to that I’ll tell you whatever you wanna know. Go ahead and ask me anything. I’ll even give you my sizes.” Ohya winked and even from across the table Akira could smell the booze. Maybe she was too slammed to realize who he was, good. 

“That’s wonderful news, Ohya-san,” Akechi smiled brightly,” I was wondering if you could give me some information on the person who allegedly controls Shibuya.” 

“Oh,” Ohya sounded very sober suddenly,” Why about him?” 

“I was just looking at some reported cases of students being harassed around the area,” Akechi answers,” I would ideally like any information you have on their boss.” Akira eyed Akechi suspiciously. Why did he want to know about Shibuya? Sure he was a detective but this was too convenient.

“Well, I do have some information on that, but I want to make sure of something,” Ohya looked to Akira,” You’re from Shujin?” Akira, back to sweating bullets nodded,” Good. I want your word that after I give this information to Akechi-kun you’ll give me an interview on the case involving Kamoshida.” 

“Kamoshida?” Akira looked confused.

“I apologize Kurusu-kun, Ohya-san promised me information so long as I gave her a Shujin student to interview for her paper.” Akechi said honestly,” I’m not sure how involved you got with him though.” 

“I wasn’t that directly involved, no, but I know someone who was.” Akira pulled his phone out,” I can give you his number now, he’d be willing to talk.” Akira was pretty sure Mishima would talk. He was supportive of the Phantom Thieves and if Akira asked him he had no doubt Mishima would talk to Ohya.

“Great!” Ohya pulled out her phone and they exchanged contact info then Akira sent her Mishima’s,” I’ll accept it at this, now for what you want to know,” Ohya paused to take a drink,” Junya Kaneshiro.” 

“That’s the name?” Akechi confirmed.

“That’s right. You can look into him further if you really want to know but I’m not at all responsible for what happens after.” Ohya warned them before demanding a toast to her new sources. Once Akechi and Akira finished their water they left the bar.

“Kaneshiro… hm.” Akechi thought out loud as he and Akira moved down the street toward the station,” Do you know anything about what’s been happening in Shibuya?” 

“A little.” Akira admitted,” I heard a rumor students were being offered large cash sums to deliver an envelope across the city, but when they made the drop it turned out to be drugs. Then they blackmail the students into working for free or they’ll release photos of them delivering drugs to the police.” Akira explained what he knew.

“That’s a very detailed rumor,” Akechi looked interested and Akira started to stress all at once,” but that’s what I’ve heard as well. With a name I can maybe get closer to finding him. The police as they are now haven’t been able to lay a finger on him.” 

“Why?” 

“He’s elusive.” Akechi answered simply,” Most of them have given up looking.” 

“And you kept going because?” 

“Just because they give up doesn’t mean I have to.” Akechi shook his head,” I can do something to help so I’ll find Kaneshiro and arrest him.” 

“Can you actually do that?” Akira had to know, maybe they could get Makoto to back off if Akechi was on the case.

“I don’t see why not. Are you worried about me?” Akechi turned to smile at Akira.

“I mean, we’re pretty close in age, I think it’s safe to be worried.” Akira tried to dismiss Akechi’s knowing smile. 

“I’m just teasing you. I’ll be fine. I’d be more worried about you. You spend time in Shibuya don’t you?” Akechi questioned and when Akira gave him a nod he continued,” You could easily end up as one of Kaneshiro’s delivery boys if you’re not careful. You said you enjoy taking all kinds of different jobs, I’d be careful about any involving delivery until Kaneshiro is arrested.” 

“Ah, yeah. I think I’ll stick with the beef bowl shop and the flower shop.” Akira tried to make light of the conversation but it was leaving him with the feeling that Akechi cared about him and it wasn’t helping his garden.

“Now then, how about I treat you to dinner for coming out with me?” Akechi suggested,” There’s a diner in Ikebukuro I quite like.” 

“Sure.” Akira agreed, following Akechi onto the train. Once they were on their way to Ikebukuro Akira paused to send a text to his team. 

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _7:47pm: **big spoon** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**big spoon:** mission accomplished.  
 **big spoon** : i got a name.  
 **big spoon:** you guys can go ahead and head home.  
 **little spoon** : You sure? I can wait to meet with you here.  
 **big spoon:** i’m fine. akechi is going to feed me then i’ll head home.  
 **cake pan** : alright! good job everyone!  
 **potato masher** : im taking this fuckin wig off  
 **cake pan** : just don’t lose akira’s glasses.  
 **potato masher** : HA AHAHAHAH prezs face when i took of the wig  
 **potato masher** : taht was worth sweating in this wig all day  
 **cake pan** : taht  
 **potato masher** : shuddup  
 **big spoon** : i’m going to hop out of chat. you guys have a good night.  
 **big spoon** : YUSUKE YOU BETTER HAVE EATEN.  
 **little spoon** : I did.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira wrapped up his conversation then looked up to Akechi watching him,” Sorry. I was letting Boss know I’ll be home a bit later.” 

“Of course. I would assume he’d want to know what his...ward?... is up to?” Akechi wasn’t sure what word to use and Akira couldn’t blame him.

“Yeah, it’s a complicated situation. I’m sure he doesn’t know what to call me either.” Akira laughed.

“Have you been enjoying your time in Tokyo so far?” Akechi questioned.

“More or less. Made some friends which I didn’t really have back home. The jobs I can do here are different too. It’s a lot easier to create a bouquet then to handle a half dozen kids screaming about Maki stealing a toy and throwing it in the trash. And then you have to dig it out and it’s covered in something you hope is egg but you can’t give it back to the kid so you have to give it to the parent later but holy shit the kid is pissed for the rest of the day and goes out of his way to be a shithead.” Akira gave a far off haunted kind of look as he thought about it.

“What types of work did you try out exactly?” Akechi was curious now and Akira couldn’t blame him considering how he’s stared off into space.

“I did assistant daycare helper, translator, washed dishes for a pub, tutored, worked as a cashier at the local textile shop, and did some janitorial work at the hospital.” Akira listed them off on his fingers,” Not all at once, just tried each of them a bit. Sometimes they’ll call me up to ask if I can work still.”

The two of them made their way through the city to a restaurant of Akechi’s choosing. Once they were seated and they had food ordered, Akechi looked over Akira,” So, you don’t exactly strike me as the type to get convicted of an assault charge. What happened?”

Before Akira would speak, two girls came over to speak with Akechi. One of them was still in her Shujin uniform,” Can I help you?” 

“Um, we’re like, huge fans, Akechi-san,” one girl said.

“I see,” Akechi offered a smile,” would you like an autograph?” 

Both girls made a very excited sound but the Shujin girl cleared her throat and fixed her skirt,” We happen to see you come in and I, uh, recognize this guy. Are you okay?” 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Akechi questioned and Akira felt his blood pressure spike.

“Well, he’s a delinquent with a criminal record.” The Shujin girl explained,” We were worried he might be blackmailing you.” Suddenly Akira did not feel at all hungry and really just wanted to go home. This was the worst possible timeline for him.

“Criminal record?” Akechi repeated as he looked to Akira to gauge if the girl was telling the truth. Akira couldn’t for the life of him manage to clear his face. Akechi’s expression didn’t change but he looked at the girls instead again,” I can assure you there is no blackmail involved here. I am here with a _friend_ however so I would appreciate it if you could leave us alone.”

“Ah, uhm,” The girls looked uncomfortable suddenly,” We-we’re sorry.”

“You should apologize to him. Not to me.” Akechi motioned to Akira.

The girls looked at one another then Akira to offer a sad excuse for an apology before leaving as quickly as they could. Akira shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he realized that he needed to explain himself now,” So, I was hoping you wouldn’t find out about that yet.” 

“You don’t have to explain anything to me.” Akechi picked up his water to take a drink. Akira looked around at anything not Akechi,” Really Kurusu-kun, you don’t have to look so uncomfortable. I’m not going to change what I think of you because of that. I like to think I’m a better judge of character. Whatever record it is I’m sure that you only got mixed up in something you didn’t mean to.” 

“How are you real?” Akira felt immensely grateful to Akechi in that moment, just like Kasumi he was willing to overlook the facts and just wish to be his friend,” It’s an assault record. A while back home was a man trying to force himself on a woman. I stepped in to make him stop and he tripped over his own foot--” Akira began and explained what happened after, ending with him showing up at Leblanc,” And that’s the story of me coming to Tokyo and my life being basically ruined. Small town issues make it so the minute you’re a criminal even if falsely accused, you’re done.”

“What a horrible situation. I’m so sorry Kurusu-kun,” Akechi gave him a pitied look.

“I’m over it. I can’t keep wishing it hadn’t happened and miss what I’ve got here.” Akira shrugged,” I’ve met good people and made good friends.”

“I hope you can count me among those you call friends.” Akechi offered a smile and Akira felt his heart tighten. This was bad. This night was certainly going to speed up his garden a little but at the same time this was nice.

“Of course.” Akira spoke with his own smile,” I’d dare to think it would be safe to think you’re the first friend I made here.”

“You honor me.” Akechi laughed as the food arrived. The two of them fell into easy conversation as they ate until Akechi checked his watch,” Oh it’s getting rather late. We should go or we’ll miss all the last trains.” 

“Right,” Akira started to pull money from his pocket but Akechi held a hand up to stop him.

“I think I said my treat right? I’ll pay for this.” Akechi reaffirmed before he took out his own wallet to pay for their meal,” Thank you for coming with me tonight and for telling me about yourself. I feel as if we’ve become much closer thanks to that.” 

“Yeah, me too.” Akira reached up to play with his bangs. Akechi left to pay for their meal then returned to guide Akira back to the station to head home. Morgana was asleep in his bag, he’d fallen asleep sometime in the middle of them talking about detective thought processes. It was rather enlightening. Akira felt like maybe this kind of skill could be useful against shadows.

When they arrived at the station in Shibuya Akechi walked with Akira to his line change,” Thank you again for coming along with me tonight Kurusu-kun, you helped me a lot.” 

“Helped me too.” Akira shrugged and when Akechi gave him a questioning look he cleared his throat,” About delivery jobs! I shouldn’t be taking them and such.” 

“Ah, right. Perhaps I’ll ask you to assist me on another case sometime in the future. You have a good night.” Akechi waved a little then left. Akira watched him leave as his train pulled up for a stop. Once Akechi was out of sight and the doors to his train opened Akira stepped inside and sat in the first empty seat he spotted.

There was a moment where he simply felt like he’d had a rather fulfilling night but all at once the urge to cough hit him. He pulled his bag around to the front to look for the medication Yusuke had given him. His coughing woke Morgana with a worried mewl but Akira just shook his head until he was able to find the bottle. He pulled the cap off and took a swig before coughing more until another few petals fell out. Once they were out of his airway he was able to breathe.

“Akira…” Morgana stood half on his lap,” Are you okay?” 

“I’ll be okay. I’ll see Takemi tomorrow.” Akira answered between deep breaths as he blindly put the bottle away,” Sorry to worry you.” 

“I’m just worried about you having this kind of attack in the middle of a mission…” Morgana tried to disguise his worry which Akira appreciated. He gave Morgana a firm pet before letting his head fall back gently against the back of his seat,” Tonight was busy.” 

“You did a good job. You got Kaneshiro’s name, now we just need to get into his palace.” Morgana settled back into Akira’s bag before standing back up,” Something’s wet?”

“Shit, I didn’t close the bottle tight enough.” Akira moved Morgana out of the way as he sorted through his bag to get the wet stuff out of the way. He found a cloth he didn’t remember having near the back of his bag so he started to dab away until it was mostly dry,” Sorry about that Mona.” 

“Is that Holy Stone okay?” Morgana asked. 

“Holy...Stone…” Akira repeated looking at Morgana then into his bag. Where did it go? Akira looked at the cloth in his hands before letting it fall loose so he was holding it between pinched fingers. Dustlike particles fell from it and onto his leg. He dabbed at the particles and chanced tasting it before frowning,” It...it was rock salt.”

“WHAT?!” Morgana’s jaw hung open,” We were shamed?!” 

“Looks like it…” Akira was getting a headache now. He put everything back into his bag and arranged for a mostly dry spot for Morgana before taking his phone out to send a message. 

_** YUSUKE KITAGAWA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _11:49pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : i first want to congratulate you.  
 **Akira** : i’m going to tell you all my secrets and you’re going to question why ann and ryuji made me the leader.  
 **Akira** : i’m going to lead with the fact i just spent 100k on rock salt.  
 **Akira** : then i spilled the hanahaki medicine bottle you gave me.  
 **Akira** : akechi found out about my record.  
 **Akira** : and i’m pretty sure he’s looking into the same thing we are.  
 **Akira** : to which i’m not sure what to actually do about it.  
 **Akira** : all in all not a great night. 2/5 do not recommend. would not repeat.  
 **Yusuke** : I think you just had a bad night.  
 **Yusuke** : Productive but inconvenient.  
 **Yusuke** : I’m starting to feel like I should have waited another night before moving out.  
 **Akira** : i’m fine.  
 **Akira** : i just needed a vent.  
 **Yusuke** : I will always be open to listening.  
 **Akira** : thanks.  
 **Akira** : i don’t know if i said it yet but i’m really glad you joined us yusuke.  
 **Akira** : not just because of your powerful persona, or your amazing artistic skills, or even your fantastic ass, you’re just… good.  
 **Akira** : yes.  
 **Akira** : good.  
 **Yusuke** : Thank you Akira.  
 **Yusuke** : I want to thank you for allowing me as part of the team.  
 **Yusuke** : And for trusting me with your secrets.  
 **Yusuke** : I promise to take it all very seriously.  
 **Akira** : (♡´ω`♡)*✧ ✰ ｡*  
 **Yusuke** : 💙  
 **Yusuke** : Are you home yet?  
 **Akira** : almost.  
 **Yusuke** : Be safe.  
 **Akira** : i will. good night, yusuke.  
 **Yusuke** : Good night, Akira.  
 **Yusuke** : 100k on rock salt though?  
 **Akira** : asdkl;agjsdg  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _8:32am: **big spoon** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**big spoon** : alright team, we’ll meet in shibuya around noon. i have something i have to do this morning or i’d say we should meet sooner.  
 **cake pan** : things ok?  
 **big spoon** : fine.  
 **big spoon** : i’m going to get going though so someone please make sure ryuji gets there.  
 **little spoon** : I will.  
 **cake pan** : okay! see you guys later.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

With the morning came Akira’s reminder that he needed to see Takemi to help his hanahaki. When he was getting ready he coughed up another petal. He didn’t know how often he should and it was already making him worry.

Entering into Takemi’s practice Akira waited for her to finish with another person before approaching,” Good morning.” 

“My little guinea pig. What can I do for you today?” Takemi asked looking over her notes,” If it’s another clinical trial I’m not ready for that yet.” 

“Actually I needed to talk to you about something else.” Akira looked behind him,” Can I get a check up?” 

“Hm? Not feeling well?” Takemi looked a bit worried as she stood up and put up her sign to let people know she was with a patient,” Come in.” Akira followed the familiar route to her exam room where he sat on the bed,” Tell me your symptoms.” 

“Red flowers.” Akira answered then pulled one out of his pocket to show Takemi.

“H-hanahaki?” For the first time since meeting with her Akira felt like maybe Takemi was now worried about him,” How long? How many petals?” 

“I’m not sure how long. Does it have a ‘love at first sight’ thing or is it when I first started to kind of get a cough?” Akira let her take the petal. 

“You know who it’s for?” Takemi turned away from Akira to take out a book and start flipping through it. 

“I do, not sure how well a confession would go for me though.” Akira admitted. 

“Then don’t. You can’t until you’re sure or it’ll kill you right away.” Takemi continued to flip through pages before comparing the petal to what was on the paper,” Looks like a camellia flower.” 

“You got it that easy?” Akira leaned around wanting to see but Takemi turned toward him with a medical gown in her hands, where did she get that?

“Change into this.” She demanded,” I’ll be right back.” Takemi stood and left the room giving Akira plenty of time to change into the gown as he was told. When she came back she had a trolly of things with her,” Okay, first thing is first, we’re going to get an x-ray of your chest to see the progress. I need to know the stage to prescribe pollen blockers.”

“Okay. Uh, how long will this take today?” Akira had to ask. 

“A few hours. Let’s go.” Takemi pulled him along to get him moving. 

As promised between the x-ray and a few other tests she did, Akira was starting to worry he was going to be late for the meeting in Shibuya,” Are we almost done?” 

“This is your life, Akira.” Takemi frowned,” Now sit there and wait.” Takemi watched as the computer in front of her loaded up a quick diagnostic,” Okay. For the time being I’m giving you a general blocker, it looks like an inhaler. No marks on it to indicate what it’s really for aside from the cap being red and not blue. You are going to take a breath of this each morning and each nice before bed, or every twelve hours, whichever works better.” Takemi passed him the inhaler,” Once the chest x-ray is developed I’ll have a better clue of how advanced your hanahaki is. Now, as for the person involved, do they frequent the cafe?” 

“Y-yes.” 

“Who?” 

“I can’t say.” Akira shook his head.

“The more contact you have with this person the faster this is going to grow.” Takemi warned him.

“I know, but I can’t just get rid of him or anything. Or I guess I don’t want to.” Akira wrung his hands together,” I have time, right?” 

“You do… but you run the risk of things going poorly. You’re sure you want to risk it?” Takemi looked over her clipboard at Akira. 

“I do.” Akira answered firmly,” There are things I have to do and this person is important to that even without the hanahaki problem.” Akira explained,” So I need time. Please don’t tell Sojiro.”

Takemi let out a sigh as she leaned back in her chair,” Fine. I won’t tell him, but this does change the clinical trials…” 

“Did I become useless?” Akira worried. 

“No. I just need to be careful not to add anything that might encourage more growth. Hanahaki is so rare these days I didn’t even think to add in anything about it.” Takemi thought out loud,” Come back in three days for the extensive review on what’s going on here okay?” 

“Yes ma’am. Thank you.” Akira bowed to her. 

“No need to thank me. I am your doctor after all. I’m going to give you a shot today to start your treatment.” Takemi stood to fill a needle with clear liquid before putting it to Akira’s arm and pushing it in,” That should work to keep it down for today. Don’t forget your inhaler starting tomorrow morning. I’ll let you get changed.”

“Okay.” Akira watched as Takemi left. Once she was gone he stood to get changed back into his normal clothes. He paused after putting his shirt back on to see that Takemi had left the book open with the petal on the top of the entry. He moved it aside to look at the flower in question,” Generally, camellia flowers symbolize love, affection, and admiration. Camellia flowers are available in white, pink and red with each color having its own unique symbolism. White camellias symbolize adoration and are given to someone who is well-liked. Pink camellias symbolize a longing for someone and is given to someone who is missed.” Akira paused as he came to the color red,” Red camellias symbolize love, passion, and deep desire.” Akira let out a bitter laugh at that,” Deep desire… am I really in that deep? Shit. In hanakotoba camellias represent ‘Love, Perishing with grace.’ That’s fantastic.” Akira looked at the petal again before closing the book on it. He didn’t care. He was just going to hide this until everything was over and get it removed once he could go home.

He wasn’t going to let this beat him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> takemi is very important in this whole fic. also i'm having fun with thinking of akechi being involved so early and how it works out. it's making the retelling longer. i'm pretty much skipping past stuff that happens IN palaces and just detailing stuff between them unless it's important enough. like shido's or sae's. thank you for reading!


	6. a crown and a feather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> makoto awakens to her persona, but what's this? someone else joins who no one expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm going to control myself and actually just update on saturday going forward from here. this is also the chapter where i really start to get off the rails. i had a touch of writing block but then i hung out with eoin (my fiance) and dislodged that to get going again. so happy days!

“Yo there he is!” Ryuji waved his hand over his head when he spotted Akira,” You’re late.”

“Yeah, sorry, Sojiro needed some help.” Akira lied,” Did you guys get at all started without me?” 

“Yeah actually, we got one of the keywords, he sees all of Shibuya as something.” Ann answered,” Like literally. You got ideas?” 

“Well, he sees people as ATMs or something right?” Akira suggested letting Morgana out of his bag to jump onto a nearby wall,” Maybe a bank?” Akira suggested. 

“Ah! That’s it.” Yusuke looked down at his phone,” Impressive. You’ve been here not even a minute and you got it.” 

“That’s our leader.” Ann pumped her fist excitedly,” Alright where should we enter?” 

“Here?” Ryuji suggested. 

“In the middle of all these people?” Ann worried her lip,” Isn’t that risky?” 

“Not to call us trash but no one notices when a piece of garbage vanishes from the trash can right? We’ll be fine.” Ryuji insisted. 

“Yeah I think he’s right.” Akira nodded, honestly he just didn’t want to argue. He was already tired after all the tests,” Let’s head in. Yusuke could you please?” 

“Alright.” Yusuke tapped his phone to take them into the Metaverse.

As expected all of Shibuya shifted around them. People warped into ATMs and bits of cash flew through the sky as if swept up in the wind. There were no obvious buildings for the palace so they had to start looking. They spoke for different ATM people who were on the verge of breaking, or already did, and gained nothing from it. It was when they were about to call it a day and look more the next day that Akira spotted something that made his stomach drop out.

His eyes fixed on the end of the street heading back toward the station square. Goro Akechi was there, but he wasn’t looking at them, he was looking up. Akira’s eyes followed Akechi’s toward the sky to spot what Yusuke was also just calling out,” No.” 

“It’s… in the sky?!” Ann all but shouted.

“How the fuck do we get up there?!” Ryuji sounded defeated already.

“Mona can you change into a helicopter or something?” Ann asked.

“No!” Mona defended himself,” Though I do wish I could.” 

The other Thieves spoke as Akira looked back down the street to Akechi. He wasn’t looking up anymore, but right at Akira. This was bad,” Guys stay here.” Akira ordered earning everyone’s attention. Everyone was now very aware of Akechi’s presence. 

“How?” Ann hissed to the others.

“I don’t know!” Ryuji mumbled back, their voices fading out as Akira approached Akechi with his hands in his pockets.

“So,” Akechi spoke first when Akira got close enough,” I didn’t think you of all people would be like this. Even after what you told me last night.” 

“How’d you get in this place?” Akira asked, trying to put on a stern face. He was freaking the fuck out under his mask.

“I saw you and your friends at the station. I was about to greet but then this place appeared and I watched your clothes change.” Akechi explained leaning his head to one side to look at the other Thieves behind him,” I guess this explains why you think the Phantom Thieves are just.” 

“We are.” Akira defended,” Give me a chance to prove it to you.” He didn’t know what the hell he was saying. Something about being ‘Joker’ gave him confidence he never had as just Akira.

“Prove it to me?” Akechi frowned,” How?” 

“We’re going to change Kaneshiro's heart to stop him from repeating this,” Akira motioned to the dead ATM person next to him,” You said it yourself, the police can’t catch this guy. Let us do this.”

Akechi was silent as he stared at Akira. Was he trying to decide how he was going to arrest him? Maybe Akechi was actually considering his offer. Akira really hoped that he would. Akira just needed the chance to show Akechi their justice. He would understand, maybe.

“I’ll give you one chance.” Akechi held his hand up with one finger extended up,” If you can’t prove to me that your group is without fail needed for society I will arrest all of you.”

“If we can’t convince you we’ll turn ourselves in willingly.” Akira promised.

Akechi wasn’t about to accept it just at that though, he held his hand out for a shake. Akira chewed on the inside of his cheek before approaching to take the hand in a shake,” I’m only giving you this shot because I do like you Kurusu. I’m honestly rooting for you to prove to me you’re worth letting run wild.”

“I hope so too.” Akira swallowed, glad that he had seen Takemi today. He worried about his garden otherwise.

“Now, why don’t we leave this place? Clearly you don’t have a means of getting up there right now.” Akechi motioned toward the bank in the sky,” I might be able to offer ideas.”

“Alright.” Akira’s knees felt weak as he motioned for the others to join him. Once they were close enough he took his phone out to remove them from the Metaverse,” Let’s go to the hideout to talk.” Akira spoke evenly to his team.

Ann gave Akechi an uneasy look but led the way toward the walkway. As they walked Yusuke caught up to Akira to speak into his ear,” Are you okay?” 

“Yes.” Akira answered and when Yusuke insisted he said,” Not here, Yusuke.”

Yusuke took a step back then as they gathered with Akechi facing them all,” I’ll be honest, when I saw Kitagawa-kun in Leblanc I had started to wonder if you were part of the Thieves. You told a very convincing lie.” Akechi looked between the two of them. 

“Yes well, we’re dealing with someone else who found us out for the same reason.” Ryuji grumbled.

“Someone else?” Akechi questioned. 

“Makoto Niijima.” Akira answered,” Student Council President at Shujin.” 

“And prosecutor Sae Niijima’s younger sister. That’s a rather troubling person for you to have to deal with.” Akechi touched his hand to his chin in thought,” She’s made demands of you? I have to guess that she’s blackmailing you rather than turning you in outright.” 

“She’s why we were looking into Kaneshiro.” Ann took a turn answering.

“I see. Well, that problem is persisting, tell me what you plan to do about that flying building. I assume you have to get up to it.” Akechi looked expectantly at Akira.

“It’s not fair it’s in the sky.” Morgana complained. 

“Ah! I-it spoke?” Akechi stared at Morgana as he settled on Akira’s shoulder,” How?!” 

“He’s a cursed human?” Akira offered an answer so Morgana wouldn’t attack him. 

“Amazing.” Akechi stared for a while before shaking his head,” Sorry, back on topic.” 

“Right. Honestly, I’m wondering if we’re out of luck with this flying palace.” Ann swayed her arms,” We don’t have a way to get up there. There aren’t any buildings tall enough to reach either.”

“The grappling hook doesn’t have enough power in it to shoot that far.” Akira admitted.

“If only we could contact the real Kaneshiro…” Yusuke lemented. 

“Well, the best way to try that might just be to take on those delivery jobs I warned you against.” Akechi offered an insight,” Cause enough problems and Kaneshiro will bring you to him.”

“Yeah but that’s pretty dangerous.” Ann touched her hair,” We’re not trying to get anyone hurt here.” 

“I thought Phantom Thieves were scared of nothing.” Akechi goaded them.

“We’re just being careful.” Morgana sounded insulted but ducked down after spotting Makoto approaching. 

“What do you want?” Ann asked coldly.

“Nothing in particular. I just saw you all here together and wondered what was going on.” Makoto looked to Akechi,” Hello again Akechi-san.” 

“Hello Makoto-chan, we’re bumping into one another a lot lately aren’t we?” Akechi smiled but it was one Akira felt wasn’t quite honest,” I’ve been told you’re following rather fondly in your sister’s footsteps.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Makoto asked dangerously.

“Blackmail isn’t very becoming.” Akechi said and the group collectively gasped.

“I--I don’t know what you mean?” Makoto tried to defend herself as she looked at Akira.

“I wonder what your sister would think if she were to hear you were blackmailing the Phantom Thieves. Would she be proud of you taking advantage of your resources or would she be disappointed you didn’t turn them in as soon as you found out?” Akechi spoke and there was a stillness that swept over everyone. Akechi was going right for it, maybe he wanted to be the only one holding blackmail cards against the Thieves?

“Oh damn.” Ryuji muttered.

“You-you know about them?” Makoto looked from Akechi to the Thieves.

“I do. Now, the question becomes what do you plan to do with them after this?” Akechi asked. 

“I-I was going to let them continue if they did what they were supposed to.” Makoto answered looking nervously between them.

“Not to be rude or anything, but why are you really here?” Ann decided to jump in,” We’re trying to figure out how to get into the place we need to go. At least Akechi-kun is helpful in it. A detective knows how thieves think, you’re just a student council president. You’re pretty useless when it comes to what we do.”

“Useless?” Mokoto repeated. 

“Ouch, harsh words Ann.” Ryuji looked to Ann.

“To be frank, Ann is right.” Yusuke agreed.

“Unfortunately I have to agree.” Akira said. He didn’t want to be so hard on Makoto but she also had no business getting into this. It was already hard enough to do without being under someone’s watch. If he could convince Akechi then maybe they would be okay. Akechi seemed to have Makoto under his thumb so if they proved to Akechi they were worth keeping around they would be safe.

Makoto took offense to all of this and fell silent before speaking,” So you want to meet with Kaneshiro huh? That’s who you were discussing correct? You just needed to meet him in person?” 

“Something like that.” Akira confirmed. 

“Fine, I’ll help you find him.” Makoto then turned and began to leave.

“Wait what?” Ryuji stared after her.

“Is she serious?” Ann asked. 

“It would seem so.” Akechi looked to Akira,” We should follow her.” 

“Let’s hurry.” Akira began to rush after Makoto. She was fast though, she was completely out of sight by the time they made it to the station square,” Does anyone see her?” Akira asked as he stopped to look around. 

“Let’s split up and look.” Akechi suggested just as Akira’s phone rang. 

“Hello?” Akira answered,” Niijima-senpai?” 

“Don’t hang up the phone, and record this.” Makoto said firmly on the other line before she began to talk to someone about Kaneshiro. Akira moved his phone from his ear to let the others listen as Makoto tried to get someone to take her to Kaneshiro,” I heard I could find someone named Kaneshiro if I came to Central Street.”

“Let’s go.” Akechi ran with Akira hot on his tail. When they made it to central street it was just in time to see Makoto get into a black car with a pair of thugs,” Shit.” Akechi hissed as the car got away.

“Ryuji get a taxi!” Ann cried,” Is her phone still on?” 

Akira put his phone back to his ear to listen as Makoto asked where they were taking her. Yusuke said nothing as he scribbled on a piece of paper,” I’ve got the licence. I’m glad my sketching skills can come in use here.”

Ryuji was busy trying to flag down cars with no success until he literally threw himself in front of one,” I SAID STOP!!” he screamed before running around to pull the door open,” Let’s go!” 

“Impressive.” Akechi commented as they got in. Yusuke shoved his way forward to tell the driver to follow the car Makoto had been taken in. The driver managed to keep up with the car well enough until they hit a snag at a light.

They were able to spot the car outside of a club after losing it for a minute. Akira threw money at the driver, probably more than he needed to, as they rushed toward the club,” Wait!” Akechi called making them stop,” Let’s not all rush in at once. Kitagawa, Takamaki and Sakamoto go around the back to watch for anyone leaving. Also if we don’t come out in an hour call the police. As for us, we’ll head in through the front door.” Akechi motioned at Akira.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Ryuji looked uneasy and waited for Akira to give an order. 

“Do it, she’s in danger right now. And if Kaneshiro does something to us then the cops will be able to get him.” Akira motioned for his team to do what they were told. The three moved fast to get around the building as Akira and Akechi moved in through the front door.

They pushed past any bouncers asking what they were doing in the club and searched around for Makoto, eventually Akechi called for Akira to look toward the back where they could see Makoto being pinned to the ground.

“Bastard.” Akira growled then ran toward the VIP area with Akechi,” Let her go!” 

“Who the fuck are you?!” The man holding Makoto down shouted. 

“Niijima-senpai are you okay?!” Akira called for her but a fat man toward the back of the lounge area made a sudden sound of understanding. 

“Oooh, I get it. You got followed you dumb shits! And by that lil TV detective of all people.” the man, Akira assumed Kaneshiro, shouted,” Don’t move a muscle or my man might lose his balance and end up hurting the girl.” Kaneshiro warned him as he sat up. He asked the woman next to him about the price of a purse before opening a briefcase to take out three stacks of bills to give to her. 

“What’s your game here Kaneshiro?” Akechi glared.

“You see this?” Kaneshiro wiggled his phone,” I snapped a pretty good photo of you two here. I got some drinks and even some drugs in there too. How damaging would it be to your career if this photo got out?” Kaneshiro threatened.

“I see…” Akechi relaxed his stance,” What do you want in exchange?” 

“Hm, well, first you’re going to refill my briefcase here. There’s a three million yen whole here, if you split up the work I’m sure each of you can work up a million at some point. Talk to mommy and daddy for allowance bonuses.” Kaneshiro laughed,” Second, you’re going to be my little bitch from now on. When cops come sniffing around, you’re going to get rid of them.” 

“I think you greatly overestimate my power. As you put it. I’m just a ‘TV detective’ a consultant.” Akechi explained.

“Did I fucking stutter? Figure it out.” Kaneshiro growled,” You’ve got three weeks to get my cash or the girl can work it off. Now, get the fuck out.” Kaneshiro dismissed them motioning for his man to let Makoto go.

Once she was safe the three of them left quickly,” Why did you do that?” Akechi turned to ask her once they were outside. Akira texted the other Thieves to meet them back in Shibuya before meeting up again. It was too risky to meet back up so close to Kaneshiro’s place.

“I… I needed to prove I was useful.” Makoto answered as they walked,” I got you what you needed right? You met with him,” Makoto turned to Akira,” Please tell me this helped.” 

“It...it might have? I don’t know yet.” Akira looked at Akechi awkwardly,” Let’s meet back up with the others before we get carried away talking about this.” Akira took the lead. 

“Akira!” Yusuke was the first to spot them,” I was worried the messages from your phone weren’t you. Are you alright?” 

“Let’s explain what happened before we get too far.” Akechi stepped forward. He began to tell the other three of everything that happened, ending with the blackmail against himself,” I’m not actually all that concerned with what will happen to me. Most people will see it as me gathering information to take down a criminal. However, if Kurusu’s involvement comes to light it’ll complicate things for him and he could be arrested. Even if I vouch for him, as I told Kaneshiro, my actual power isn’t much. Kurusu will end up in violation of his probation and swiftly put in juvenile hall.” 

“You… agreed to his terms because of me?” Akira stared at Akechi in surprise. 

“I did. You can’t prove your justice to me if you’re behind bars. And if anyone is going to put you there, it’ll be me.” Akechi gave Akira a determined look,” So, you’d better be certain you can change Kaneshiro’s heart.”

“Hey, after all that stuff being said, I think we’ve become customers of Kaneshiro’s bank.” Morgana pushed his way out of Akira’s bag.

“Customers?” Akechi repeated. 

“I see. The reason why we couldn’t enter before was because we weren’t considered his customers yet.” Yusuke mused. 

“Yes, but now these three are, and I’d go as far to say Akechi is a special customer of his don’t you?” Morgana suggested,” Let’s go back into the Metaverse and try again. I bet we can get in now.”

“What about her?” Ryuji motioned at Makoto,” Should we take her too?”

“I think we should. If Kaneshiro doesn’t see Akechi as a VIP customer, then maybe he will see her as one since she brought Akechi to him. And I think after tonight she deserves to know exactly what is going on.” Morgana offered as an idea. 

“He’s right. Let’s give it a try.” Akechi agreed.

“Where are we going?” Makoto looked confused and then eyed Morgana,” And are you talking to a cat?” 

“You’ll see.” Akira took out his phone to initiate them back into Kaneshiro’s palace.

As soon as they were in, Makoto pointed out their costumes,” What are those clothes? When did you change?” 

“I believe the clothes come with the world we’ve been transported to.” Akechi looked around,” Being back in just reaffirms I haven’t lost my mind. You truly are Phantom Thieves. I think an explanation is in order for us.”

“Right,” Akira played with his bangs,” This might take a while.” 

“I’ll explain it as quickly as I can.” Morgana stepped up earning a yelp from Makoto as she hid behind Akechi.

“Monster cat!” 

“I’m not a cat!” Morgana shouted back,” Okay you two better listen close I won’t be repeating myself!” Morgana began to explain about the Metaverse and what palaces were. By the end Ryuji had sat on the floor to listen while Akira did little knife tricks with his dagger to pass the time. 

“I see.” Akechi spoke first,” So this place is a completely separate world.”

“And stealing someone’s heart is just a way of overwriting their cognition.” Makoto followed up,” I think I get the logic behind it…” 

“Without the source of their distorted desires a person realizes all of the crimes they commited and the people they’ve hurt, so to satiate their guilty conscience they confess.” Akechi summarized,” I don’t think we would have ever been able to find sufficient proof to even make an arrest much less gain a conviction.” 

“So,” Akira pushed himself off of the wall he had been leading on,” will you help us?” 

“You mean to get into that floating building there?” Akechi pointed, earning a nod from Akira,” I can try. At this point if I want to see your justice for what it is I’ll have to get you inside. So let’s approach and see if we can do something.” 

“Hell yeah, I got a good feeling about this.” Ryuji stood up to follow the party as they moved toward the bank. 

Almost as soon as Akechi stepped close to the bank a long metal road unfurled from the building to the street, inviting them inside,” Well, I think means we are in fact customers.” Akechi turned to smile at them,” Let’s head up?” 

“There’s a lot of ATM people up here.” Ryuji comments once they reached the top.

“Yeah and this place is huge.” Ann adds.

“Let’s save the discussion for after we get a look inside,” Akechi offers,” Since Niijima-san and I are customers let’s act like them and go in through the front door.” 

“Yeah but…” Ann started as she looked over each of the other teammates,” We totally look like robbers.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t have much of a choice. Let’s just head in for now.” Akira nodded to Akechi and then led the way inside.

As soon as they made it inside they were met by guards demanding to know why they were there,” Niijima-san, could you take the lead here?” Akechi requested Makoto speak on behalf of both of them.

Soon enough they were moving through the building at the behest of Kaneshiro’s shadow somewhere in the bank. They followed the scattering of guards to a room where not Kaneshiro’s shadow was waiting for them but instead a table covered in cash and a large duffle bag. 

“How many beef bowls do you think I could eat with this?” Ryuji drooled over the money while Akechi moved to check the duffle bag.

“Unauthorized entry, property damages, noise disturbance and so many other things. That comes too three million yen, doesn’t it? Are you here regarding that Ms. Beautiful President and Mr. TV Detective?” Shadow Kaneshiro questioned from over the TV in the room. Shadow Kaneshiro turned around in his seat to face them, his face purple and his hair oily,” It must be quite the task to gather so much money. I’d be willing to give you a loan, you know. Ms. President would just have to sell her body to pay it back.” 

“And I assume I would have to destroy similar evidence as to what’s in this bag as part of my required services?” Akechi held up the duffle. From what Akira could see there were guns and bricks of drugs inside.

“No not destroy, that would be a waste of revenue, you’ll be a good boy and deliver what you’re told in that fancy little briefcase of yours.” Shadow Kaneshiro pointed to Akechi’s case,” You’re my best bitch to get my drugs even further. I’m planning expansion now thanks to you.” 

“Disgusting.” Akechi sneered.

“Oh is it? I suppose I could allow Niijima-san to pay me back one other way, that way being the acquaintance of her lovely older sister. Having a detective and a prosecutor in my pocket? I couldn’t ask for a better deal.” Shadow Kaneshiro laughed.

“How do you know who my sister is?!” Makoto demanded. 

“My intel network runs deep.” Shadow Kaneshiro grinned,” Young women are so easy to trick, and idiot detectives obsessed with justice are easy to drag down with weak little girls.” 

“What was that?” Akechi asked dangerously. 

“I’m saying you got caught because you gave a shit about some little bitch.” Shadow Kaheshiro explained,” Men are most often left in trouble when a woman is involved and they fool themselves into thinking they give a shit when it’s really just their dick leading them.”

“You’re despicable!” Yusuke shouted.

“We’re going to steal those twisted desires of yours.” Akira warned Shadow Kaneshiro.

“Oh please try. I have the very best security money can buy.” Shadow Kaneshiro said with a snap of his fingers before shadows burst up from the floor.

“Get back!” Akira pulled Akechi behind him as Ryuji grabbed Makoto just in time for the shadows to take their more monstrous forms. 

“W-what?!” Makoto gasped, stepping further back as Akechi moved with her to get out of the way of the fight that was about to start.

The following fight left the room in shambles, the cash on the table strewn about the floor and the furniture completely destroyed. Just as the party was about to catch their breath more shadows appeared. 

“They just keep comin!” Ryuji shouted. 

“I don’t think they’ll stop. We should run!” Morgana shouted as well. 

“Let’s go, then.” Akira turned back to knock the doors open with his persona, Phoenix, setting them ablaze,” Run!” Akira commanded the room and everyone ran out.

“Why did the guards turn into monsters?!” Makoto shouted as they ran down the hall back the way they came. 

“There’s no time to explain, let’s go!” Morgana ran faster to take point as they rushed back to the front hall. Before they could reach the door more shadows spawned to block their path,” Shit!” 

“You’re not leaving so soon are you?” Shadow Kaneshiro’s voice spoke but this time it was close. Turning around the party came face to face with the flesh and blood version of Shadow Kaneshiro,” I really wanted to thank you properly for such amazing assets. How about a permanent vacation?” Kaneshiro clapped his hands to summon even more shadows. 

“This is bad, we’re surrounded.” Akira frowned; they should have been more careful about bringing noncombatant people inside. If it were just them they could probably safely fight their way out but they had to keep Makoto and Akechi safe.

“Don’t you worry your precious little heads Ms. President and Mr. Detective. You’ll make it out alive, and I’ll put you to good use once it’s over. I mean, Ms. President has the easiest job here, she can just sell her body. You don’t even have to like it, just endure it.”

“Endure it…” Makoto repeated. 

“That’s right, hey, maybe you’ll end up enjoying it. Or you might buy your way out. Although by that time your life and everything along with it will be over. But you’d be free.” Kaneshiro grinned wickedly.

“I have been listening to you go on and on about _bullshit!”_ Makoto clenched her fist tightly. If Akira was seeing it right her nails cut into her skin and blood was starting to trickle down. Was she awakening? “So do us all a favor and shut your damn mouth, you money-grubbing asshole!” After her shout, Akira could see it as if it were in slow motion. The look of pain flashed across Makoto’s face before she grabbed the sides of her head and swayed in the spot. The white hot pain of awakening to a persona was intense, Akira remembered it.

He expected Makoto to fall to the ground as so many of them had before, but she insured it. Instead of falling she slammed her foot into the tile with enough force to shatter it. The next Akira realized Makoto was ripping the mask from her face with a sickening squelching sound.

“Get ready.” Akira stepped forward, Yusuke joined him to stand on either side of Makoto as she awakened to her power,” Protect Akechi.” Akira told Ann and Ryuji as the light of Makoto’s awakening subsided and she was sat utop a persona in the form of a motorbike. 

“DUDE. THAT’S AWESOME!” Ryuji whooped.

Suddenly Makoto drove forward to fling the two guards at Kaneshiro’s sides to the ground, causing them to vanish. The power from Makoto’s awakening was strong enough to kill them without causing them to actually show their true forms. Kaneshiro visibly began to panic before summoning even more shadows,” K-kill them all!” 

“Looks like he’s done trying to keep any ‘tools.’ How nice.” Yusuke said as he placed his hand on his katana and the other on his mask,” Enough of this. GOEMON.” Yusuke’s mask vanished in a sound of broken glass signaling the start of yet another fight.

The tide of battle here was different, Makoto was a powerful new alley and took down shadow after shadow, but it was taxing on her. The initial swell of power after an awakening was subsiding and she looked pale under her mask. 

Akira was no better off. After the testing Takemi had put him through earlier he was starting to feel dizzy. He didn’t realize how weak he was until he was suddenly taking a knee so he didn’t collapse face down into the ground. A new wave appeared with more shadows than the last, but there was no way of keeping them down.

“I’m not dying here.” Akechi growled before swinging his briefcase around to smash a shadow in the face to buy Ryuji time to send Capitan Kidd after it. Akechi used the momentum of his attack to throw his briefcase as hard as he could at the shadow creeping up behind Akira with a large nail bat. Akira hadn’t even noticed it,” Get up! If you die here you can’t show me your justice!” Akechi shouted just as a large shadow lodged itself between him and the party. 

“Akechi!” Akira shouted for him, finding some power to summon his persona again to push what he could out of his way but it was too far and the shadow in front of Akechi was about to hit him with a thick hard mallet.

“Say goodnight Mr. Detective. It’s a pity you couldn’t be of any use after all.” Kaneshiro sighed,” I’m sure you’ll be missed for a week or so before the media clings to the next pretty face to show up and solve crimes. Just die quietly.”

“I’m not… I’m not going to just roll over to be forgotten damnit!” Akechi shouted just as Akira knocked another shadow out of his way. He wanted to tell Akechi to run but before he could he saw it again, the expression of an oncoming awakening. 

Akechi’s was much more dramatic than Makoto’s. He gripped his hair as he sank to the ground and curled in on himself. The shadow attacking him missed it’s initial attack since Akechi had fallen to his knees so suddenly. It raised its club up again to attack once more only for Akira’s persona to shove it over instead. 

Akira stumbled over to Akechi’s side just before the detective uncurled and, shakily, pushed himself back up to his feet,” I’ve had enough of this shit. I’m not going to just vanish quietly.” Akira watched as Akechi leveled a yellow eyed glare at Shadow Kaneshiro,” I’ll show what a deep mistake you’ve made.”

Akechi breathed deeply as he grabbed both sides of his red mask and ripped it from his face as Makoto had. Akira didn’t hear the same sound of tearing flesh as he had with Makoto but the power that radiated from Akechi’s awakening was just as strong if not stronger,” Alright Kaneshiro, you think you can use me for your wicked ends? Why don’t we find out instead how fast you can run with all that fat encasing your head?” Akechi questioned pointing a small golden gun at Kaneshiro.

“Wait! We need to take the chance and run!” Akira shouted to get Akechi’s attention as the shadows around them tried to find their feet again.

“Move!” Makoto shouted next before revving her bike up to drive right through the doors.

One by one each of the Thieves gathered themselves up and ran. Akechi, in his new white outfit and persona, pushed back the guards and scared Kaneshiro off at long last. Akira quickly grabbed Akechi’s briefcase and then they made a run for it. 

Outside the door Morgana changed into his van form and the party piled inside before driving off after Makoto. Once they were a safe distance from the bank the party got out of Morgana and returned to the real world.

“Man, talk about close.” Ryuji panted,” We almost got killed.” 

“Yeah, if Akechi and Niijima-senpai hadn’t both awakened…” Akira was dizzy with the thought of what might have happened to them,” Thank you both.” 

“There’s nothing to thank.” Akechi said before swaying a little. He caught himself on Yusuke before shaking his head,” That was… exhausting to say the least.” 

“No shit.” Ryuji shook his head in disbelief. 

“Let’s move somewhere else.” Akira suggested. They made their way into the station to head to their hideout. Once they reached the usual spot Makoto took a knee and Akechi leaned heavily onto the handrail. 

“That was seriously amazing though.” Ann spoke up,” Senpai you’re like, stupid strong.”

“I can’t believe you threw this to save me.” Akira said to Akechi as he offered the briefcase. 

“Yes well, like I said, if you’re dead you can’t prove to me you’re more than just a rotten thief.” Akechi took the offered object but set it down next to him almost as soon as he actually felt the weight in his hand,” Though I suppose after that entire fiasco I can’t dismiss it as you just going this for fun. There’s a tremendous amount of danger that goes into this.” 

“No kidding.” Makoto huffed,” God, I haven’t been this sore in a long time.” Makoto took in a long breath before she stood up again,” But that was amazing, the power and that feeling. Telling Kaneshiro to shut up was the most satisfying thing I’ve done in a long time.”

“I have to agree.” Akechi nodded,” Watching Kaneshiro nearly soil himself in there was a rather refreshing experience.” 

“I don’t know your plans Akechi-kun, but I would be honored if you would let me join you guys.” Makoto looked around the party before her eyes locked on Akira,” I can’t follow the path my sister has made. I always knew there was a time when we wouldn’t meet eye to eye anymore and now… I can see the best way for me to make a difference is right here. If you’ll have me.” 

“I’m not against it, but…” Akira looked to Akechi,” Akechi says if we don’t prove our justice to him he’ll arrest us all. You sure you want to join?” 

“I do.” Makoto looked more resolved than before,” I would like to prove something to him as well.”

Akechi looked around, realizing that everyone was looking at him now. They were probably expecting him to say he was going to join them as well, however he shook his head,” I won’t be joining you. At least not until I’m sure that what you’re doing is just. However, I would like to join your jaunts into that place. I want to be there when you enforce this reformation on Kaneshiro.” 

“Fine.” Akira held his hand out,” You’ll be able to join us in battle, and with it we’ll show you what we’re really about.” 

Akechi looked down to Akira’s hand before letting out a laugh as he took it in a firm shake,” I’ll be watching you closely.” 

“I expect you to.” Akira smiled.

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _11:17pm: **big spoon** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**_{_ ** _11:18pm: **Goro Akechi** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _11:18pm: **Goro Akechi** has joined the thread **}**_

**_{_ ** _11:20pm: **Makoto Niijima** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _11:20pm: **Makoto Niijima** has joined the thread **}**_

**big spoon** : welcome.  
**Goro** : Hello.  
**potato masher** : this group chat is getting big  
**cake pan** : a little, but it’s kind of understandable.  
**little spoon** : That was a rather exciting day.  
**Makoto** : Uh. Who is who?  
**big spoon** : akira.  
**little spoon** : Yusuke.  
**potato masher** : ryuji  
**cake pan** : and i’m ann of course.  
**Makoto** : Interesting names?  
**big spoon** : there’s a story involved and i swear it’s completely E for everyone.  
**Goro** : Are chat alesis required?  
**little spoon** : No. However, your name may just be changed if the conversation calls for it.  
**Goro** : Calls for it how exactly?  
**cake pan** : like akira sneaking into yusuke’s bed to spoon him.  
**cake pan** : or akira in a sleep deprived state changing everyone’s names to kitchen things to match.  
**cake pan** : i never did get an answer if you’re type ab.  
**big spoon** : i might be…  
**big spoon** : i am.  
**Goro** : I’m type O if that helps.  
**potato masher** : why does that help?  
**Makoto** : It’s the universal donor type.  
**Makoto** : So I think he’s saying he can give any of us blood if he needs to.  
**Goro** : Correct.  
**big spoon** : well, that might be important later.  
**big spoon** : anyway, i’ve had a VERY long day before all the palace stuff happened.  
**big spoon** : i’m going to go pass out now.  
**big spoon** : good night phantom thieves + detective.  
**Goro** : Good night.  
**cake pan:** sleep well!  


**Makoto changed Makoto’s name to The Juicer.**

**The Juicer** : Good night!  
**big spoon** : suddenly i’m interested in this development.  
**The Juicer:** I know nicknames aren’t required to be changed but I wanted to join in the fun.  
**potato masher** : were really going on this kitchen thing right now huh?  
**Goro** : I feel a lot of pressure now.  
**big spoon** : you’re just imagining things.  


**Goro changed Goro’s name to Kitchen Sink.**

**Kitchen Sink** : As I am not one of you this seems the right name.  
**big spoon** : that… yeah actually.  
**big spoon** : ok speel for real. Bye.  
**potato masher:** speel  
**cake pan:** leave him alone ryuji he’s speely!  
**little spoon** : I too am feeling speely.  
**big spoon:** i love each and everyone one of you.  
**little spoon** : Speel!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ YUSUKE KITAGAWA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _11:28pm: **Yusuke** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yusuke** : How are you fairing?  
**Akira** : ?  
**Yusuke** : With Akechi joining us.  
**Akira** : i’m okay.  
**Akira** : i saw my doctor today and she gave me some treatment stuff.  
**Akira** : though i think seeing her really wore me out before everything else today.  
**Yusuke** : I thought you looked like you weren’t at your best.  
**Yusuke** : I guess I thought you might have been suffering due to Akechi being there.  
**Akira** : i bet.  
**Akira:** i’m fine though.  
**Akira** : we can’t exactly tell him to go away.  
**Yusuke** : That’s true…  
**Yusuke** : I’ll do what I can to help though. Just tell me what you want me to do.  
**Akira** : for now just cover me if i break down into a coughing fit in front of anyone else, not mona.  
**Akira** : i told him since i’m literally with mona 24/7.  
**Yusuke** : I will.  
**Yusuke** : Sleep well Akira.  
**Akira** : thanks yusuke. you too.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira let out a heavy sigh as he let his phone fall to his side. Today had been one of the longest days for him. Suddenly Akechi and Makoto had joined them? Even if Akechi was saying he wasn’t really part of them he was. If he’d been told this was going to be the end result of his day Akira wouldn’t have believed it.

“How did we get to this point?” Akira wondered out loud before exhaustion swept over him and he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you made it to the end! and look, goro joins the team earlier so there's way more time to get attached and care and shit! makes stuff that happens later actually matter more imo. an artist i like a lot put him in kaneshiro's palace and i was like "HEY YOU KNOW WHERE I'M AT IN MY FIC? RIGHT HERE." then slam dunked goro right on into the team. idk if it'll come up in fic but goro 100% watched makoto's awakening closely before simulating that with loki's help. he's a smart detective so he planned out what he needed to do and was flawless about it ofc. anyway, thank you for reading and please let me know what you think so far! i know it's not fantastic but i'm having fun at least.  
> (ﾉﾟ∀ﾟ)ﾉ :｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:♪･ﾟ’☆━━━!!!!


	7. sensei wa maid-sama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akechi and makoto get their names, akira gets some VERY bad news, and kawakami's moonlighting as a maid comes up. ho boy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's saturday! 🎉🎉🎉 if any of you stalk my twitter then you know i'm throwing around the idea of updating both saturday and tuesday. i have a lot of chapters and if i got purely once a week then it'll take until like... forever to post everything. i've written up into nearly chapter 20 so far. so i might change the pace a little bit after i finish writing the fic as a whole. i don't want to post twice a week then fuck myself because i don't have it finished and the end is upon me. @.@

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _11:11am: **big spoon** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**big spoon** : how’s everyone feeling today?  
**potato masher** : pretty good  
**cake pan** : i’m ready for anything!  
**little spoon** : I too am fine.  
**The Juicer** : We have class right now. :/  
**The Juicer** : But I am alright, a little sore still but it’s nothing I can’t deal with.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Are you asking because you want to go back into the palace?  
**big spoon** : yes. we have three weeks to try and change his heart before he forces niijima-senpai to sell her body or worse.  
**big spoon** : that palace is huge. we need to figure out the route to the treasure fast.  
**Kitchen Sink** : I see your reasoning.  
**Kitchen Sink** : I can make time this afternoon.  
**The Juicer** : I can too.  
**The Juicer** : And please feel free to call me Makoto.  
**cake pan:** alright makoto. :D  
**big spoon:** alright. let’s meet at the hideout after school.  
**Kitchen Sink** : I’ve been meaning to ask, the walkway… is your hideout?  
**big spoon** : yes.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Okay.  
**big spoon:** morgana says it’s a good spot because no one expects thieves to do their business out in the open.  
**big spoon:** also it’s not weird for a group of students from different schools to meet up at the station.  
**Kitchen Sink:** That was also before I joined your group.  
**Kitchen Sink** : People know who I am. It would be better to move it a place a little less populated.  
**big spoon:** you have a suggestion?  
**Kitchen Sink** : Inokashira Park I think would fulfill the need. It’s public still but it’s large enough we could find a place where people aren’t likely to recognize me.  
**big spoon:** that sounds good. is anyone opposed?  
**cake pan** : sounds like a plan to me!  
**potato masher:** i think i saw a good spot when we were cleaning here last  
**little spoon** : A nature setting might help nerves before a mission.  
**The Juicer:** I’ll go along with what you guys want.  
**big spoon** : oh. no. we work as a team. if a decision isn’t unanimous we don’t do it.  
**big spoon** : so if you don’t like something you can veto it. any of us can.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Is there an actual leader among you then?  
**little spoon** : Akira is.  
**little spoon:** However, we still put things to a vote.  
**big spoon** : this usually comes up in terms of mementos missions.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Mementos?  
**potato masher** : like  
**potato masher** : kaneshiros palace is just his right?  
**potato masher** : mementos is everyone elses palace  
**Kitchen Sink** : A collaborative palace of the people’s cognition.  
**big spoon** : bingo. we’ll give that a dive when we get a request from mishima.  
**The Juicer** : Mishima? Yuuki Mishima?  
**big spoon:** yeah. he runs the phan-site.  
**Kitchen Sink** : There is a lot more you are involved in than I thought.  
**big spoon:** we have our fingers in all the pies.  
**The Juicer:** Well, I’ll vote in favor of the park hideout for now.  
**big spoon** : great. we’ll meet at the entrance after school, then ryuji can take us to the spot he’s thinking about. we’ll talk about what to do next once there.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Sounds like a good plan.  
**The Juicer** : Agreed, now get back to class.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira and Morgana were the first to arrive at the park. Ann and Akechi were soon to join them after,” Before the others get here I was thinking about something important Lady Ann.” Morgana spoke from Akira’s shoulder,” As we have some pretty good battle experience now I was thinking about us working on our finishers.” 

“Finishers?” Ann repeated. 

“Yeah! Listen here’s what I was thinking…” Morgan began to explain his plan for an elaborate finisher. When he reached the end Ann looked unsure and Akechi looked interested. 

“That doesn’t even sound remotely possible. Even in the Metaverse.” Ann shook her head but as she did Akira’s bag began to glow. Morgana popped back into his bag before taking out the star they had gotten from that odd child in Mementos,” What the heck does that mean?” 

“I don’t know… but I have a good feeling!” Morgana’s eyes flashed,” We have to try it out! Please?” 

“If it works that’ll be interesting.” Akechi hummed in amusement just before the others arrived. 

Ryuji led them into the park to a semi-remote area Akira hadn’t seen during the cleanup. It was a good spot with a large picnic table for them to sit around and plan with plenty of shade,” How’s this?” 

“Perfect!” Ann quickly moved to take a seat,” It’s nice and cool here.” 

“Good job Ryuji.” Akira gave his friend a pat on the shoulder before he sat as well and the rest followed.

“I want to apologize for my actions yesterday.” Makoto said once they were all seated,” I was too reckless and put you two in a lot of danger.” Makoto bowed her head to Akechi and Akira.

“Without your being bold we wouldn’t have gotten into Kaneshiro’s palace so it’s thanks to you we made it.” Yusuke offered forgiveness.

“Still, I can’t believe I’m actually helping the Phantom Thieves. My sister would freak if she found out.” Makoto lamented. 

“There’s no time to be sentimental.” Morgana hopped onto the table.

“Right, I’m sorry. I wanted to ask a few things before we get started.” Makoto put her hands on the table,” The method of entering the Metaverse. It’s a smartphone app right?” 

“That’s right. You just need a person’s full name, location, and distortion to enter. Once you go in the app bookmarks it for later use. That is until we steal the treasure then it’s deleted.” Yusuke answered.

“You make it sound so simple.” Akechi took his phone out of his pocket to look at the app he’d gained,” It installs itself without any prompting. Don’t you wonder where it came from?” 

“Uhhh, I dunno? Akira already had it when we met.” Ryuji pointed at Akira. 

“It just showed up on my phone when I got to Tokyo. I tried to delete it but it showed up again.” Akira shook his head,” I don’t know how it got there.”

“That’s not really what I was worried about. Rather I was wondering about it being a navigation app. Wouldn’t it be possible to access a server somewhere with our history in it?” Makoto worried.

“Ah.” Yusuke looked to the table as the rest of the group looked troubled. 

“Have none of you thought about it before?” Makoto gave each of them a surprised look.

“I doubt that’s much of a problem Makoto.” Akechi was taping through his app,” I don’t believe this app works by normal world requirements. I have my doubts there’s a server that it works off of. Think of how we have personas, and what that world is. I believe we can safely assume that this is not something that can be easily traced.”

“If you’re sure…” Makoto hummed but dropped the topic.

“I’d like to move onto more important topics.” Akechi took over,” We must change Kaneshiro’s heart before he gets bored and decides he wants to release that photo. As I said I’m not worried about myself but of Kurusu. It would be damaging if the photo were to be released.”

“Yeah,” Ann frowned,” I can’t believe that jerk...ugh.”

“We’ll make it!” Ryuji grinned,” And when we take down a major mob boss we’ll get some real adoration. We’ll get way more popular.” 

“Popularity drives you does it?” Akechi asked. 

“The more people that know of us, the deeper we can get in Mementos to try and find Morgana’s missing memories.” Akira spoke up,” Plus I’d like to think if we make enough noise we can give people hope that things will get better if they stand up for themselves.” 

“How ambitious.” Akechi hummed,” Alright, if there are no further things to discuss let’s head in?” 

“Yeah.” Akira agreed before they started to get up and set back into the Metaverse. 

Once they were inside and back at the entrance of Kaneshiro’s palace Makoto stopped to look at everyone,” So what am I going to be called? I didn’t miss the fact you were using codenames yesterday.” 

“Yes, I’d think we both need a name to use here.” Akechi looked around,” I think the names I heard were, Mona, Panther, Skull, Fox and Joker right?” 

“Yeah,” Ann swayed with a smile,” Most of them are kinda obvious huh? Joker’s is because he’s actually kind of a wild card.” 

“Wild card?” Akechi questioned. 

“He can change his persona.” Yusuke answered next,” It seems to be a special power of his.” 

“So he has more than one persona.” Akechi muttered.

“Alright well, how about something like…. Shoulder Pads for prez and… uh?” Ryuji looked over Akechi,” Pointy Nose?” 

“Are you an idiot?” Morgana looked up at him,” Of all things those are the things you focus on?” 

“What, you have better ideas?!” Ryuji growled. 

“What about Rider for Makoto? Since she rides her persona?” Yusuke suggested,” And maybe Doctor for Akechi? His mask reminds me of a plague doctor’s mask.” 

“Sounds too much like a smuggler.” Makoto shook her head.

“I’m certainly no doctor…” Akechi looked about as displeased with the suggestion as Makoto was with hers,” I’m not sure being literal will work with ours.”

“Hmm, the corset reminds me of royalty. And so does his cape?” Morgana looked between the two of them,” Joker, you have any ideas?” 

“Hmmm, Queen and King?” Akira suggested. 

“Queen, I like that.” Makoto hummed,” But having him as King would make it sound like we’re a couple…” 

“I’ll pass on the King name. It’s still not really me.” Akechi thought out loud.

“Then I’ll be Queen.” Makoto smiled. 

“There’s a number of animal names here… I think I’d like to go with something that doesn’t quite match my attire.” Akechi looked at his white coat,” Perhaps, Karasu?” 

“Japanese?” Ann questioned,” It’d be the only one…” 

“Sounds too much like Kurusu.” Akira tried to keep his blush down. He wasn’t thinking of Goro taking his name or anything. Nope. He was too young to think about that and they were still pretty new friends! 

“Ah, you have a point. How about Crow then?” Akechi suggested instead,” English, and it won’t cause confusion later.” 

“Alright! Queen and Crow.” Ann nodded,” I like ‘em.” 

“Thank you Panther.” Akechi returned her smile. 

“Still. You’re gunna rob in that get up? You don’t really blend in…” Ryuji noted. 

“Mona said that the costumes represent our inner thought of a rebel correct? I think my persona speaks as to what I think of myself.” Akechi touched his mask,” Robin Hood. A just thief who takes from the corrupt rich to give to the poor. A white knight in thieves' clothes. Rather than a rebel I think this more closely resembles what I think of someone who sticks to their justice.”

“White knight. You gunna tip your mask and say _m’lady_ or?” Ryuji snickered. 

“Enough of that. Let’s talk strategy for the mission.” Makoto interjected. When she was met with blank expressions she touched her temples, seemingly fighting off a headache,” Are you telling me the Phantom Thieves have been acting without _any_ plans?” 

“Well, we kind of just look around the area, I provide navigation when needed, and then, uh,” Morgana already knew how this sounded and it sounded bad.

“If we run into shadows we beat the shit outta ‘em!” Ryuji rolled his shoulders sounding far too excited about his contribution. 

Akechi and Makoto exchanged a knowing look to one another before looking at Akira. Akechi decided to speak first though,” It seems your team might need a little more organization than first thought.” 

“Care to be an acting consultant?” Akira joked at first but then thought about what he said,” I’m not exactly a professional, none of us are. This just fell on us, so any useful suggestions would actually be appreciated.” 

“I see.” Akechi nodded,” Well, since you asked so nicely I can offer some insight.” 

“I can compile Mona’s information into useful battle strategies as well.” Makoto offered,” Akechi-kun can handle the practical side, I’ll handle battle?” 

“Agreed. I’m not formally trained in anything so I think that would be for the best.” Akechi had no qualms about this idea,” But Joker will still lead. We will simply provide support.”

“Alright!” Ann looked rather excited. 

“I wonder how much smoother things will go now…” Yusuke thought idlelly. 

“Let’s find out and head inside. Let’s get as far as we can today.” Akira then began to lead the way to find their way back inside.

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:36pm: **big spoon** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**big spoons** : good job guys. we really did that in one day.  
**cake pan:** it was a piece of cake!  
**potato masher** : seriously  
**potato masher** : with makoto on battle and akechi on puzzles that was too easy  
**big spoon** : almost feels like cheating.  
**little spoon** : Indeed.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Should I let you flounder?  
**big spoon:** no. please continue just as you have been.  
**Kitchen Sink** : I was joking. I don’t want to know how long that would have taken otherwise.  
**big spoon** : probably another day or two.  
**Kitchen Sink** : So the next step is the calling card?  
**little spoon** : That’s right. If there are no objections I’ll be working on it tonight.  
**The Juicer:** Could I help you with it?  
**The Juicer** : I feel personally responsible for all this after all.  
**big spoon:** go for it.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Should we send it tomorrow?  
**big spoon:** we can wait a little before we do.  
**big spoon** : get our energy back.  
**big spoon** : but also because i have a really important appointment tomorrow.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Everything alright?  
**big spoon** : yeah. it’s just important.  
**cake pan:** can’t tell us?  
**little spoon:** Forgive me for saying so bluntly but it’s not really our business.  
**big spoon** : harsh.  
**big spoon** : but also right. Sorry.  
**cake pan** : no need to apologize. sorry for trying to pry!  
**The Juicer:** Alright, I’ll work with Yusuke to make a calling card.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Shall we set the tentative date for the card sending on the 25th?  
**Kitchen Sink** : It’s more than a few days away but it’ll give us enough time to plan.  
**big spoon:** that sounds good. wow about on thursday we go into mementos.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Won’t that wear us out?  
**big spoon** : just around the entrance.  
**big spoon** : the shadows are weak there and you guys can get a feel for what it is.  
**The Juicer:** Alright.  
**big spoon:** good job team.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The following day Akira returned to Takemi to find out how far along his ‘infection’ was. She looked up from her work to look at Akira before escorting him to the back room. Once she had finished putting up her busy sign she entered the room with a clipboard and a folder. Takemi flicked on the x-ray display light before taking the plastic sheet out of her folder to clip it up on the wall. 

Akira felt a chill travel down his spin, the flowers were so obvious on the x-ray it nearly hurt to think that the image was a shot of the inside of his chest,” So, while you don’t have a lot of flowers blooming, there are a lot of them.” Takemi used a pointer to motion around the bottom of Akira’s lungs,” This specific area is troubling to me. You said you met the source in April?” 

“Yeah. I don’t know when it took root.” Akira chewed his bottom lip.

“I see.” Takemi looked from him to her display,” Do you see how dark it is here? That’s a buildup of roots. It’s a rare occurrence, think .01% of those who can contract hanahaki get this. I think that what we’re looking at here is called ficus. It’s rooting so secure and complex that even if we were to remove it by force with surgery we wouldn’t get it all. Surgery would only serve to agitate the garden and increase its rate of growth.” 

“Wait…” Akira felt very cold now,” You mean even if I wait until I know I can get out of this person’s life, it won’t come out?” 

“It happens in some families. I imagine your parents should have told you about it.” Takemi looked through her test results,” But I’m guessing they didn’t.” 

“No… but that explains my childhood.” Akira remembered constantly getting chest x-rays,” I wish they’d told me. I would have been more careful.” Akira dragged his hand through his hair,” My options don’t look good do they?” 

“I’ll be frank, your options are to make it work, or die. Since we didn’t catch the rooting early enough there’s nothing we can do to remove it.” Takemi was being completely serious with him,” I’m going to work on medicine to try fixing this but, right now, the best chance you have is leaving it to fate and confession. I only hope it’s received well or… well,” Takemi shook her head,” With the roots how they are and the rate of the flower growth, I’m going to estimate you have until February to work something out with the person involved unless I have a significant breakthrough. That’s with the medicine. So keep to the schedule. You’ll get a refill in two weeks time. If you don’t come to get it I’ll drop it off with Boss. Do you understand?” 

“Yeah.” Akira agreed.

“Good. We’ll continue our clinical trials as well if you feel safe enough for it.” Takemi gave him a worried stare.

“I’ll be fine.” Akira agreed,” I still need those meds for my exams after all.” Akira tried to joke but under the mask he was in full blown panic mode. Takemi had basically told him he had less than eight months to live. 

“I have to ask you something else you might not like,” Takemi started,” The person at the core of this, they're around semi-often?” 

“It’s recently become more often.” Akira bit his lower lip,” It’s not something I can avoid.” 

“That might speed it up more.” Takemi looked troubled,” Just be careful. When you start to spit up whole flowers you have to tell me right away. Day or night, text me, call me, I don’t care, we have to change tactics once that happens.”

“Alright,” Akira nodded,” is there a clinical trial today?” 

“Sure,” Takemi sighed at the change of topic,” I’ll get the medicine ready, you just wait here.”

_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _7:45pm: **Mishima** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Mishima** : Kurusu I need help!  
**Akira** : ?????  
**Mishima** : Meet me at the location I’m going to send you.  
**Mishima** : Please hurry!  
**Akira** : What’s wrong?  
**Akira** : Mishima?  
**Akira** : shit.  
**Akira** : okay i’m on my way.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira rushed to the train station as Mishima sent him the address. Once he had the place he was on his way. He was worried about what Mishima had gotten into. A lot of scenarios came to mind but once he got there he found Ryuji and Mishima hanging out outside of an apartment building. 

“What is going on here?” Akira asked once he got close enough.

“We need your help with an important mission!” Ryuji approached Akira to put his hands on his shoulders.

“Mission?” 

“Let’s head in the apartment and we’ll show you!” Mishima grabbed one side of Akira’s arm while Ryuji grabbed the other. Together they dragged Akira to an empty apartment,” Alright, so, what we need help with is simple.”

“We want to try this thing out.” Ryuji dug his hands into his pockets before pulling out a poster with an advertisement for a maid service.

Akira frowned deeply,” Why… am I here?” 

“We need you to make the call.” Ryuji put the paper in Akira’s hand,” We’re-uh-well he thought it would just work better if you called.” He blamed Mishima who sputtered indignantly. 

“Are you just too scared to do it yourself?” Akira teased,” I really thought there was sort of emergency going on. You scared me.”

“Sorry but Sakamoto said it was the only way to get you here.” Mishima admitted sheepishly. 

“A maid service though?” Akira frowned at the paper,” Guys, you both know at this point, but let me reiterate, I am gay. Like, full on. Not bi. I’m not the best person to have as part of this.” 

“No, that makes you the best!” Ryuji insisted,” Please leader!” 

Akira looked from Ryuji to Mishima then back again. They were both giving him pleading looks and Akira folded, how did his team trust him? “Fine.” Akira took out his phone and started to input the number,” I want it known I’m against this.” Akira says before hitting the call button.

The call with the operator went fine, Akira was more nervous about Ryuji and Mishima giggling in the background. Once the call was over the three of them stood around to wait.

“Why is this apartment empty anyway?” Akira looked at Ryuji with more than a little worry.

“The guy moved out recently! Don’t think so bad of me bro.” Ryuji answered with a pout. He was clearly a little hurt Akira was doubting his intentions.

“Well, at least we’re not messing up anyone’s apartment…” Akira trailed off not sure what to talk about. 

“Listen the plan is great, no one lives here so even if this goes badly they can’t find us!” Ryuji was rather proud of himself here. 

“Why are we men, as a species, like this?” Akira let out a sigh,” It’s not a bad plan, but God…” 

“Right? I’m surprised Sakamoto has a brain.” Mishima laughed,” Anyway, what should we have her do? Maybe cooking? I wouldn’t be against some other services either…” 

“Like cleaning? Not like there’s anything to clean here.” Ryuji looked around the room. 

“Oh man. You’re so… innocent.” Mishima shook his head, not sure how to talk to Ryuji. As time got closer the other two began to stir nervously,” Hey- uh, do you think high schoolers are allowed to use this service?” 

“Uh.” Ryuji started to sweat now.

“You guys…” Akira frowned,” Are you serious?” 

“What if we can’t and they find out who we are?” Mishima was suddenly freaking out.

“Why should it matter how old we are if it’s just housekeeping?!” Ryuji shot back. 

“I want to go home.” Akira was suddenly very tired then a knock sounded from the door.

“Hello? I’m from the housekeeping service!” Someone called from the door and then all hell broke loose. Mishima started to say he wasn’t prepared while Ryuji was retreating backwards slowly,” Huh? The door is unlocked? I’m going to let myself in!” The maid called just before Ryuji claimed he couldn’t do this and rushed out of the sliding glass door behind Akira. 

“Hey!” Akira reached for him but as he did Mishima ran out too wishing him good luck,” Are you two serious?!” Akira questioned just as the two of them slammed the door shut and the maid finally came in. 

“Oh there you are!” a woman spoke from behind Akira and suddenly he just wanted to melt into the floor. This was horrible,” Welcome home master~! ❤️” Akira could almost hear the heart emoji in her words,” I’m going to fill your tired heart full with lovely energy, nya! ❤️” Akira reached for the door to try and get it open to throw himself out of it but the two on the other side were holding it closed,” I’m Becky, and I have the pleasure of serving you today! ❤️” Shit this was not his day.

“N-nice to meet nya too.” Akira returned the greeting contemplating the damage he could do to himself if he just threw himself out of the window completely. 

“We’re going to get along so well master! Nyaaaa~! ❤️❤️ Now let Becky explain our services! Basics include cooking, cleaning, laundry, but if you so desire we have additional _services_ should you request them. ❤️” Oh, _good_ this was a sketchy prostitution thing. _God damn it, Ryuji._

“Hm? Master you look rather young?” Becky had moved closer when Akira was lost in his thoughts,” Are you perhaps in high school?” 

“I’m in college.” Akira said probably too fast.

“Wow your skin is so healthy~!” Becky sounded surprised,” But you’re not lying to me right? Master wouldn’t lie to little ol Becky? Nya?” Akira didn’t know what to say and at this point he was ready to just call it all off, say he was in high school and that this was a horrible joke,” I think I’ll wait to provide other services until you’re a little more mature Master~ ❤️ So I’ll be leaving~ ❤️” 

“W-what? No way!” Ryuji basically shouted from the other side of the door and Akira could feel his soul leave his body.

“Hm? Is someone there?!” Becky stepped up to the door to try and force it open.

“S-shit! Mishima run!” Ryuji’s voice came through clear as day before the sound of them running met Akira’s ears and then Becky opened the door to see the two running off into the night.

“ _Great._ ” Akira whispered wondering if he should run now.

“Mishima and Sakamoto-kun?” Becky said suddenly earning Akira’s attention, Mishima’s name was said, not Ryuji’s. He looked up at Becky’s face just as she turned to him,” And you?!”

“Oh _**fuck…**_ ” Akira said as he recognized Kawakami.

“Did you request me specifically?” Kawakami gave him a sharp glare,” Ugh this is the worst…” Kawakami lowered her hands,” Yes it’s me, your homeroom teacher. This is it. I’m done. I can’t believe I’ve been caught by my own students… Did you hear about this from Chouno?” 

“N-no. I didn’t-- I swear this was a weird coincidence, sensei.” Akira waved his hands,” Ryuji found the poster and Mishima and him wanted to try it out and--” 

“Are you going to tell Chouno-sensei about this?” Kawakami looked very serious now. 

“I--no--” Akira started but Kawakami cut him off.

“Listen, if you’re going to side with a teacher, side with me. I’m your homeroom teacher and I can do more to help you. Please, I’ll do anything.” Kawakami begged and Akira was starting to feel really guilty now. 

“Anything?” Akira’s brain had broken at some point and he was just repeating words. This was fine,” Wait no! I’m not--”

“You know, it wouldn’t be good if your guardian knew you were calling a maid service? And this place isn’t your home address either, at least you were that smart. So why don’t we just pretend nothing happened here tonight? I’ll even treat your request as a cancelation so you don’t get charged. Now I’m leaving. Don’t say a word to anyone at school or else.” Kawakami warned him then left.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Akira said once the door was shut. He let out a sigh then sat on the floor to try calming his nerves,” I’m getting real tired of getting blackmailed here… I’m going home.” Akira got back up and left the apartment. On his way back toward the station he ran into Mishima and Ryuji nervously chatting by a light post,” You guys suck.” 

“H-hey!” Ryuji waved,” How’d that go?” 

“Great! She gave me her personal number and gave me a free blowjob!” Akira grinned and both of them went red before sputtering about him being serious,” Of course I’m not serious! I didn’t want to do that to begin with! Next time you have a maid thing, leave me out of it. I’m going home and crawling into bed.”

Tonight was not a night he wanted to repeat, ever again.

___________________________________

The following day at school however, led to him finding Kawakami in trouble with Chouno breathing down her neck. Akira was tempted to leave it alone, but no. He had to put his nose into it. He always did. It was basically his brand at this point. If he didn’t put his nose into it, was he really Akira Kurusu? High school delinquent and leader of the Phantom Thieves? The answer was no. Once he saved Kawakami from Chouno’s badgering she gave Akira her number, told him to use a public phone and not his cell, to call her later that night. 

“Are you really going to call her?” Morgana questioned scratching behind his ear as Akira listened for Sojiro to leave for the night by the top of the stairs. He sat just on the top step as he leaned over to listen carefully. 

“She wanted to talk. She made it sound like if I didn’t she was going to kick my ass.” Akira explained. He stood a little when he heard the bell ring then checked downstairs. Sojiro was gone, good. He hurried to the phone to call for ‘Becky’ and request her for the night. 

An hour later Kawakami was in his room,” what kind of room is this?” Kawakami looked around between the dusty bits and the literal pile of reference books Akira had stacked up on his desk to hide his lockpicking creation set,” Nevermind that. How about you explain yourself?” 

“I have terrible friends.” Akira put his hands up,” I really didn’t call you to request you specifically that night.” 

“So… it was a dare.” Kawakami looked away, her expression appearing hurt. Akira was trying to make her feel less like she was caught but now he was making her feel unwanted. _Fuck_.

“No. I… listen. I really didn’t mean to get you all worried about stuff. I’m not really the kind of guy that does this.” Akira motioned to her,” I’m not even into women.” He didn’t know if telling Kawakami was a good idea but here he was.

“You’re… were you blackmailed into calling me?” Kawakami was drawing weird conclusions now,” I’m so sorry…” Alright, well, she didn’t seem like she still wanted to blackmail him,” How about this, I’ll let you skip classes sometimes,” Kawakami smiled,” I know how it feels to not have anywhere to belong, and people knowing your secret… it has to hurt. So we’ll make the deal where you don’t tell anyone I moonlight as a maid, and I’ll let you skip some lessons. So long as your grades don’t slip!” 

“Studying is kind of my hobby.” Akira adjusted his glasses.

“Good!” Kawakami smiled,” Now, I’m going to get going. In the future feel free to request me if you need help with your housework okay?” 

“You… want me to request you?” Akira looked suspicious.

“I don’t get requested a lot…” Kawakami sighed,” And I need the money for my little sister. She’s sick…” 

“Oh.” Akira sounded,” Uh, sure. I’ll request you again another time.” 

“Great! Thanks so much master, nya~! ❤️” Kawakami teased. 

What the hell did he get himself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lali-ho you made it to the end friend! ~~does anyone else here play ffxiv?~~ so, on the whole the chapters are going to get longer with the content in and between the palaces a bit because there's akechi now and it's more fun to add in his point of view. part of me is going to add him as an omnipotent view regarding the police movements and such so what us as the player knows, akechi can also give to the group. fun times right? 
> 
> now to talk about the rooty elephant in the room, when i was writing up the fic it felt boring that akira could just cut away the hanahaki to get rid of it so i decided to make it a bit more dramatic with the complex root system digging into his lungs. i called it ficus at the time because when i looked up plants with deep or complex root systems ficus trees came up. i didn't dig super deep and kind went with the first easy thing to put into a sentence but i got the point of akira's problem out in the open so now his choices are super limited. wooo drama. the second half of this chapter was kinda filler-y. anywho thanks for continuing to read and i'll see you around my twitter (linked in the first chapter) or next week!
> 
> I'ma start doing previews.
> 
> _“Kurusu, could I ask you something?” Akechi requested. When Akira nodded he continued,” How did this fall on you?”_
> 
> _“I don’t know.” Akira shrugged,” I arrived in Tokyo then suddenly there was a weird app on my phone and a voice I couldn’t really make out. I stumbled into Kamoshida’s palace with Ryuji then everything snowballed.”_
> 
> _“I see. A victim of fate.” Akeshi summarized._
> 
> _“Could I ask you something?” Akira asked next,” What made you really go along with all this? You’re a successful detective and you’re liked by people. We’re nothing but a bunch of misfits with nowhere to belong.”_
> 
> _“We’re more alike than you think.”_


	8. creeping roots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the phantom thieves wrap up kaneshiro's palace, learn of the black masked villain, and akira gets a message from someone he hasn't heard from in forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's akechi's birthday in the US so i'm posting a chapter in honor of that! it just happens to line up with what i plan the new schedule to be once i really finish. enjoy this chapter as a treat!

The final fight of Kaneshiro’s palace was a touch difficult but there were so many of them now that the danger of the fight rested more on them avoiding friendly fire. The most annoying part of the fight had been when Kanashiro’s shadow, now turned fly man, summoned muscle with all of his cash. They broke into teams to take on the muscle before finishing off Kaneshiro’s big robot thing.

After the pig exploded Kaneshiro fell out with numerous gold bricks,” You’re done Kaneshiro.” Makoto said once he hugged his gold. 

“You can’t have it! This is my money!” Kaneshiro cried over it. 

“You stole all that money from innocent people.” Akechi stepped forward to pull Kaneshiro off of the gold and point his gun right at his face,” Give me a reason not to end you here.” 

“I’ll call off the deal and the debt!” Kanakeshiro waved his hands around wildly,” Just please don’t hurt me!” 

“How many people begged that same way only for you to ignore them?” Akechi’s voice was low and dangerous. Akira’s mouth went dry as he wondered what brought out this version of Akechi before them. He wasn’t like this normally. So what did it?

“Akechi wait! If you kill the shadow--!” Morgana shouted as Akechi pulled the trigger firing off a round right next to Kaneshiro’s head.

“I won’t kill him.” Akechi put his gun away,” He’s too pathetic.” 

“H-hey! I’m a victim too you know?! You can’t make it in this world without power and money!” Kaneshiro shouted as he sat up a little,” You have to understand, with my face no one would take me seriously. People only started to give a shit once I had cash! Money is everything!” 

“That’s bullshit!” Ann shouted,” All you did was surround yourself with people you could use for easy money! If you gave a crap you would have done different! Your approach to getting labeled was to hurt anyone you could before they could hurt you. Disgusting!”

“You’re exactly the kind of person we’re fighting against here.” Ryuji added in,” We don’t want your money or your empty promises! We want you to confess your crimes and accept your punishment for them!” 

“Exactly,” Makoto took a turn,” Don’t worry. You’ll finally have a place you belong. You can make amends there for the rest of your life. So, _move_ because that’s **our** treasure you’re sweating all over.” 

Shadow Kaneshiro looked at each of them before turning translucent and glowy,” You seem to understand. Good. Return to the real Kaneshiro then.” Yusuke commanded.

“Seriously, a bunch of kids with this power… laughable. You could do so much more if you were creative, you know? Do you have any idea how much cash these palaces could net you if you put your mind to it?! You would do whatever you wanted to people’s hearts and no one would know! Why squander that?”

“Because we’re nothing like you Kaneshiro.” Akira adjusted his mask like he would his glasses,” We don’t do this for money, or fame, we do it to give people some hope. We do it to give people some peace of mind so they can sleep at night and not worry about tormentors like you coming along to ruin their lives just because you could.”

“Where do you get that naive sense of justice I wonder?” Shadow Kaneshiro laughed,” You know, there’s already someone out there taking advantage of what palaces have to offer. I’ll even let you in on something,” Kaneshiro began to grin as horrified gasps echoed through the group,” There’s a criminal using other palaces to do whatever they fucking want. They don’t care about psychotic breakdowns, mental shutdowns, or any physical harm they cause. Anything goes.”

“What?” Akechi questioned dangerously,” Who?!” 

“That… could be the person Madarame’s shadow spoke of?” Yusuke looked to Akira for an answer but there was no way to know. 

“I could tell you, but they’re in a whole other league compared to you kids playing hero. Maybe if you run into them they could do what I couldn’t, and kill you.” Kaneshiro held his twisted grin until he finally faded away.

“Damn it.” Akechi hissed,” What did he mean?” Akechi wheeled around to glare at Akira,” Explain.” 

“Later! This place is about to come apart!” Yusuke shouted just as the room began to tremble,” There’s no time!”

“Uh, what’s he doing?” Makoto’s question came just before Morgana’s meowing. No one answered her as Morgana got more and more excited before bouncing off to try grabbing onto Ann’s face. Ann dodged him and let him fly off a few more feet where he turned into his van form.

“Don’t do that!” Ann shouted angrily at him,” Ugh, let’s load the treasure and get the hell out of here!” There was no more talking as the group loaded up the treasure into Morgana’s trunk. It did cause a small issue when it came to them getting into the car though. There just wasn’t enough space. Makoto was driving, with Ann next to her, then Yusuke, Ryuji and Akechi were all in the second seat with no space for Akira in the back.

“Just get in!” Ryuji shouted at him as rocks began to fall. So Akira did just that, ending up sprawled across each of their laps as Makoto began to drive. Akira moved to try sitting a little more firmly in just Yusuke’s lap but a hard turn sent him sliding into Akechi’s instead with a yelp.

“Just hold onto me.” Akechi instructed, locking his arm around Akira so he wouldn’t go bumping around the car as they took another turn. This was not good for Akira, he was suddenly wondering if he could maybe survive being buried by a few tonnes of debris. 

This thought was shaken out of him as Makoto drove them up a flight of stairs. Instead he was forced to focus on the fact he was just here, in Akechi’s lap, bouncing. There's no way Akechi was having the same thought he was right? Akechi’s grip tightened on him to try keeping Akira still in his lap and Akira nearly choked there. Akechi was just being nice to make sure Akira didn’t bounce right up to smash his head in the ceiling. He had to be. Then Akechi let out a quiet groan and Suddenly, Akira was coughing. 

He hunched over as another turn forced them all to slide to the right, crushing Akechi with Yusuke and Ryuji’s bodies. This put Yusuke close enough to realize what was happening so when there was a turn to the left he made an exaggerated movement of grabbing Akira so as not to slide into Ryuji. The action dislodged Akira from Akechi in just such a way it put Akira on the seat between Yusuke and Akechi instead of on Akechi’s lap. This was better. Akira was still coughing but they were packed tight enough in that they weren’t sliding around anymore and Akira could cough into his hands without drawing too much attention. So the raven hair leader doubled over and covered his mouth as his coughing became more violent.

There was a hand resting on his bad making soothing motions and Akira had to convince himself it was Yusuke because any more Akechi thoughts today would send him into a worse attack.

“You okay bro?!” Ryuji questioned.

“F-fine!” Akira wheezed before one more solid cough pushed out a few petals into his hands. He closed them into fists to hide them before sitting up,” Spit down the wrong pipe.” he excused it and that seemed to go by just fine.

A few more turns led them outside where they were met with the unfortunate news that there was no longer a road. After a crash landing the party found themselves back in Shibuya Station Square each sprawled out on the ground. 

“We almost died.” Ryuji complained,” I think I cracked my ass.” 

“Good job.” Ann frowned.

“Are you alright Akira?” Yusuke helped Akira stand who very skillfully dropped his flower petals behind him so they would get blown away in the wind.

“I’m alright. Where’s Mona?” He looked around before spotting him in the road with a gold briefcase on top of him,” Think he’s dead?” 

“That a briefcase would be his demise…” Yusuke almost sounded genuine in his disappointment. 

“That must be Kaneshiro’s treasure.” Ryuji commented. 

“Hey we need to get him, the light is red!” Makoto called out before she and Ryuji ran to get the briefcase and Morgana before the cars started to move.

“Alright, now that we have this, where should we open it?” Akechi looked at the case,” We shouldn’t do it anywhere public.”

“Well, I might know a place.” Akira mused. 

“I was just in the mood for some coffee myself.” Yusuke smiled.

“Yeah, and we can get Morgana fixed up there too. He’s looking a little rough.” Ann poked the cat as he laid in Akira’s arms.

“Let’s head to Leblanc then.” Akeshi took the point to lead them back to the cafe.

Once they arrived Sojiro looked up from his dishes as a small herd of teenagers entered his business. He eyed each teen before letting out a small chuckle,” Got a lot of friends there don’t you?” 

“Sorry.” Akira said sheepishly,” Would it help if I said they were paying customers?” 

“You don’t have to apologize and they don’t have to pay, but keep it upstairs.” Sojiro smiled,” Go on.” 

“Thanks Boss!” Akira bowed then led everyone up to his room. They took a few chairs from storage to set up a little meeting with the briefcase in the middle of the table. Ann got the first aid kit from Sojiro and started to tend to Mona as Makoto looked around Akira’s room. Before they started their meeting Akira made them a large pot of coffee and poured some for each who would take it.

“You have a lot of reference books here Akira.” Makoto flipped through one.

“I like to study.” Akira offered as his answer for them,” It’s about the only thing I could do back home and I guess I just learned to like it?”

“You said you were from Inaba right?” Akechi questioned looking over his coffee.

“Yeah,” Akira nodded,” There’s a few things to do there but not much for an awkward teen.” Akira answered,” I just kind of decided to stick my nose in books rather than get in trouble.” 

“And the one time you took your nose out of a book you ended up in enough trouble to make up for any you missed out on. Amusing.” Akechi chuckled.

“How’s that looking?” Makoto moved over to Yusuke to look at the front of the briefcase as he played with it. 

“It’s a rotary lock. We need the combination to open it.” Yusuke turned it toward her. She let out a hum then began to play with the numbers before it popped open. 

“Whoa!” Ryuji nearly fell out of his chair,” How’d you do that?!” 

“He kept opening it over and over again before you guys got there. I just memorized the numbers.” Makoto answered as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with a smile. After the sounds of surprise subsided she opened the case fully to display what was inside. 

“Holy fu--!” Ryuji started to shout but Akira elbowed him hard,” ck! That hurt!”

“Stop shouting!” Akira hissed then looked at the contents,” If each stack is a million yen,” Akira picked up a stack to look under it and the next until he got to the bottom,” There’s thirty million in here.” Akira counted before taking a stack to actually look at it as Ryuji whooped loudly,” Ah, it’s fake.” 

“What?!” Ann took a stack to look at it,” Oh man…” It had Kaneshiro’s face on it instead. It looked pretty real until that detail. It even had proper ridges. 

“Souvenirs.” Akira waved it a little before throwing it to the table,” The briefcase is still gold. I bet we can get something out of that.” Akira looked it over,” Unless Akechi wants it?” 

“No, that’s alright. That’s a bit too gaudy for my likes.” Akechi shook his head. 

“Alright,” Akira closed the case to set it aside,” Let’s take stock on what we need to talk about here.” 

“I’ll start, Morgana have any more of your memories returned?” Yusuke started, he probably wanted to put off talking about what Akechi planned as much as Akira did. 

“No, not at all.” Morgana said sadly, his ears drooping as he looked to the table. Ryuji took a jab at Morgana which earned a quip back,” Easy for you to talk. You’re not the one who lost your memories. Though from your last test scores I’m guessing it’s hard for you to even remember your own name.” 

“Oh damn,” Ann covered her mouth with her hand as Ryuji and Morgana started an argument. 

“He has amnesia?” Makoto questioned Akira.

“Something of the sort. He remembers searching for Treasures and his name but that’s about it.” Akira answered then silence fell. It was very uncomfortable and when Akira checked around he could see each member nervously glancing to Akechi. To try and ease some of the tension Ryuji began taking jabs at Morgana again so Akira let out a sigh,” Well, I guess that there’s no more putting this off,” Akira rubbed the back of his neck then looked to Akechi,” Did we prove our justice to you?” 

Suddenly the argument stopped and all eyes were on Akechi now as he drank his coffee. He didn’t meet their eyes for a minute as he seemed to gather his thoughts together,” I don’t know if I would say you proved justice, but I’m interested in what Kaneshiro’s shadow said, about another person using the Metaverse for evil.” 

“So…?” Akira waited for the other shoe to drop.

“I think for the time being I will let you continue. I want to know more about this evil entity and how they’re using the Metaverse to hurt people. I assume you want the same?” Akechi looked around at the group. 

“Yeah,” Ryuji nodded,” There’s no effing way we’re going to just stand by while some asshole uses the Metaverse to hurt people.” 

“Then, I’d say our point of views are aligned. I’ll join you as a consultant.” Akechi smiled,” I look forward to working with you.” 

“Well that’s one thing off our shoulders.” Ann stretched her hands up over her head,” Now we wait.” 

“Wait?” Makoto questioned. 

“We just have to wait for Kaneshiro’s change of heart.” Akira answered,” It might take a few days or a few weeks. We don’t know. It’s different for everyone.” 

“There’s nothing to do to make it happen sooner?” Akechi asked.

“Not that we've found.” Akira shrugged,” We’ll just wait and see.”

“Alright, well. We should probably lay low for a little while and wait for it to happen.” Ryuji suggested,” Then we can plan the biggest celebration. Hey, Akira, can your guy take this thing?” Ryuji pointed at the briefcase. 

“Yeah. I’ll take care of it. Anyone want a bit of the funny money?” Akira opened it again to wave a stack.

“I’d like to take one.” Akechi held his hand out,” As you said before, souvenir.” 

“Hell yeah.” Ryuji took one as well. Once everyone had a stack Akira closed the case again to set it aside until he was ready to take it to Iwai.

“If we’re done here can I go?” Ann asked, gathering up her bag,” I’m going to meet with Shiho.” 

“I think we're done.” Akira agreed.

“Awesome. I’ll see you guys later!” Ann shuffled out from her seat to take off. 

Makoto and Ryuji were next to leave. Yusuke said he wanted to spend some time looking at his mother’s portrait before he went down stairs leaving Akira and Akechi to put things back in place. When the last chair was back where it belonged, Akira and Akechi sat alone. Morgana had gone outside to sunbathe so they had time to talk privately.

“Kurusu, could I ask you something?” Akechi requested. When Akira nodded he continued,” How did this fall on you?”

“I don’t know.” Akira shrugged,” I arrived in Tokyo then suddenly there was a weird app on my phone and a voice I couldn’t really make out. I stumbled into Kamoshida’s palace with Ryuji then everything snowballed.” 

“I see. A victim of fate.” Akeshi summarized.

“Could I ask you something?” Akira asked next,” What made you really go along with all this? You’re a successful detective and you’re liked by people. We’re nothing but a bunch of misfits with nowhere to belong.” 

“We’re more alike than you think.” Akechi shook his head,” I have no family, and I have no friends to speak of. I might be a famous ‘TV Detective’ as Kaneshiro’s shadow put it, but that extends past him too. My peers don’t take me seriously and people hover around me to elevate themselves.” Akechi almost sounded bored as he spoke. 

“I see your point.” Akira nodded,” Alone in a crowded room.”

“How long do you intend to carry on like this?” Akechi questioned and Akira felt like he had just been slapped across the face. He wasn’t sure what to take the question as and Akechi seemed to sense this,” I mean as a Thief. Do you have an end goal?” Akechi added making this question easier to answer. 

“I don’t know. I guess part of me assumed we’d stop when I had to leave.” Akira leaned back in his desk chair to look out the window. The day was still so nice out, it was almost a pity they’d gone inside,” That would be pretty selfish of me though.” 

“You can’t just stay?” Akechi wondered.

“I don’t know if Sojiro would have me.” Akira answered not looking back at Akechi yet,” I’d prefer to. There’s so much here and I haven’t been able to experience even half of it without wondering if I’m going to end up dead or arrested.” Akira finally turned his head back to Akechi,” If you find that we share a sense of justice what would you do?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“If we do more than happen to align in mission.” Akira expanded.

“Ah,” Akechi hummed,” I don’t see a scenario where that happens but if it were to then I think I’d really join you. I don’t think your group is bad, far from it, but there’s a line it crosses that it shouldn’t. I plan to stay around to make sure it doesn’t cross an even more dangerous line.” 

“You mean like killing someone?” Akira questioned. 

“That's right.” Akechi nodded,” You heard Kaneshiro, I had no doubts that it’s possible to do, but then he confirmed it. I’m concerned about who else has this power and how dangerous they are.” Akechi explained,” I think my end goal is to find this person and stop them.”

“End goal.” Akira repeated the phrase,” I think I see your point. Having an end in sight would be nice. Maybe ours should be the same.”

“That would align our goals for the rest of the Phantom Thieves’ existence then.” Akechi crossed his legs,” I almost think that you’re just trying what you can to get me to stay with the group.” 

“You’re not completely wrong. You’re a useful ally and we can’t go on like this forever. Even I know that.” Akira ran a thumb over one of his reference books. He stared at the picture of a cat on the cover before something came to him,” No. That’s not our goal.” Akira looked to Akechi,” Not the final one. We’re going to get Morgana’s memories back.” 

“What a vague goal. Is there any proof he was ever human? What if he’s just a sentient shadow?” Akechi posed. 

“No. He’s something else at least.” Akira shook his head,” I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel like I’ve known Mona a lot longer than I have. The others do too.” Akira gazed off to the middle distance around the corner where his desk met the wall,” So, we have two goals, find out who’s using the Metaverse for evil, and get Morgana back his memories.”

“I suppose having two goals is good.” Akechi nodded before he stood,” You’re an interesting person, Kurusu. I hope by the end of this all we’ll still be on good terms. Even if you are a thief.”

“Isn’t the trope of detective vs thief old?” Akira teased.

“The oldest, but call me a sentimentalist. I enjoy the classics.” With that said Akechi gathered up his briefcase then left. Akira heard the bell toll down stairs and once he spotted Akechi walking down the street Akira began to cough again.

He doubled over again gasping between fits to try catching his breath. There was a creek from the stairs and Akira started to panic. Was it Sojiro? Then he caught a glimpse of purple. Yusuke set his hand on Akira’s back to rub small circles into it until he cleared another few petals out of his throat along with some small yellow things Akira assumed were bits of pollen,” Inhaler.” Akira pointed weakly toward his desk, it was close enough to that time. Yusuke moved from him to look for the object before returning with it to give it to Akira.

Akira gave it a good shake before uncapping the inhaler to put it in his mouth and breathe in the medication. After a few breaths Yusuke sat next to him and Akira leaned against him,” It’s getting worse.” Yusuke commented. 

“Yeah, wait until I tell you the worst part,” Akira mumbled looking down at the inhaler in his hands. He slowly fixed the red cap back onto the mouthpiece then spoke,” I have something Takemi told me is called ficus.” Akira muttered. He felt a dip in the bed next to him signalling Morgana’s return. Good he could tell them both at once.

“Isn’t ficus a type a tree?” Yusuke questioned. 

“Yeah but in hanahaki terms it refers to a _deep root system_.” Akira touched his chest,” It means that my garden is more extensive than can be dealt with by just surgery. If I get it cut out it’ll just grow faster and thicker.” Akira explained,” So unless things aren’t what they seem I’m…” 

“No. Don’t say it.” Morgana spoke softly as he put a paw on Akira. The fear in his voice was clear as day and all Akira could do to offer comfort was to pat him on the top of the head.

“Damn it.” Yusuke hissed then turned an arm to wrap Akira in a hug,” Would you mind if I stayed here tonight?” Yusuke questioned with his face pressed into Akira’s hair.

“Sure.” Akira nodded,” I’d like that.” He didn’t want to be alone tonight anyway. Not that he was ever alone with Morgana there but the point stood.

Yusuke released Akira after a bit more holding,” Are you hungry?”

“No. I’m kind of tired.” Akira shook his head,” I think I’ll take a nap.” 

“Alright, I’ll let Boss know I’m going to stay here tonight. I’ll bring you some water up anyway.” Yusuke promised touching Akira’s shoulder before he stood,” I’ll be quiet when I come back.” 

“Sure,” Akira toed off his shoes and moved up his bed to lay down,” Hey Yusuke?” Akira drew Yusuke’s attention before he could make it all the way down stairs,” You stayed around because you were worried, didn’t you?” 

“I did.” 

“Thanks.” 

“Anytime.”

______________________________________________________________

The cold blue and black of the Velvet Room was something Akira had grown accustomed to as he opened his eyes in the hazey dream world of his mental prison. Akira let out a sigh as he swung his feet around to get up but as his feet touched the ground he stepped on something soft. Akira leaned forward to look down at the floor to find it covered in long roots and green stems ending at still closed flowers. 

To his right Akira could hear the twin Wardens quietly bitching about something before realizing he was awake. Caroline, in all her tiny rage, slammed her guard stick against the metal,” Explain all this inmate!” She pointed at him as Akira drew himself up to his feet to inch over to the bars. 

“I’m dying.” Akira answered as he looked around. The roots cracked in through the walls and filled the cells around him with countless bulbs with most closed, bits of red poking out the ends. Some were in a half bloomed state and in the middle of the room a long stem had grown down with a newly growing bulb above the hanging light.

“What do you mean dying?” Justine questioned.

“I have something called hanahaki.” Akira frowned, had his sickness gotten this deep into him now? This room had to be some kind of Metaverse thing right? Maruki had said the sickness was in part phycological. _Shit_.

“It seems you have yet another twist of fate to fight against.” Igor chuckled from his table,” Tell me about this sickness.”

“I thought you were all knowing or some shit?” Akira quipped before Caroline hit his bars again with her guard,” Relax.” Akira shot her a frown, he really didn’t want to deal with this too,” It’s something caused by the perception of unrequited love. Flowers grow in my lungs until I confess and be accepted or die.” He didn’t need to go beyond that. There was no way for him to save himself so just the facts would work here.

“So your own cognition is killing you.” Igor summarized,” Very interesting. Another important step on your road to rehabilitation. You’ve done well so far, you have many allies to help you on your quest.”

“This isn’t something so easy to overcome.” Akira frowned but Caroline didn’t like his tone and slammed the bars again,” I hope you have another Trickster line up for when I kick the bucket.”

“That won’t be needed. For now you think on how you may avoid ruin and death.” Igor waved a dismissive hand,” Good luck to you.”

______________________________________________________________

The next time Akira woke up it was dark out. There was a light on by the sofa where Yusuke sat sketching something on paper. He looked very focused on what he was doing and Akira wondered if he should just close his eyes and go back to sleep. However during his staring Yusuke looked up to his face,” You’re awake. Did the light bother you?” 

“No.” Akira answered as he sat up. He was caught so he might as well get up,” What time is it?” 

“Near midnight.” Yusuke checked his phone,” Are you hungry?”

“A little.” Akira admitted,” What are you drawing?” 

“You.” Yusuke answered honestly,” Would you like to see?” 

“Me?” Akira stood up to walk over and look as Yusuke held it out toward him. It was him, as he was sleeping. The drawing was a simple pencil sketch but Akira sensed something from it, adoration maybe? Akira stared at the drawing for a while before speaking,” It’s really good. You probably deserve a better model though.” Akira teased.

“You’re the perfect one.” Yusuke smiled,” Would you like me to make you something to eat?” Yusuke turned his sketchbook around to put it away.

“It’s late…” Akira shook his head just before his stomach made a very loud rumbling sound,” Shut up you.” Akira warned his stomach.

“Let me make you something.” Yusuke stood,” I saw some instant ramen in the cupboard earlier.” 

Akira wanted to argue that he didn’t need it but his stomach lurched again,” Alright you win.” Akira followed Yusuke downstairs to watch him cook,” What did you end up doing all day?” 

“Well, I spent a little time helping Boss while you slept. I then drew some, a lovely older woman asked me for a commission of herself. I couldn’t pass up the money so I gave that a try. She was rather pleased with it and asked if I’m going to set up shop in the cafe.” Yusuke explained as he filled the pot with water then put it on the stove to heat,” Boss seemed to like the idea actually.” 

“Are you going to do it?” Akira asked as he sat at the counter. 

“I don’t think so. I don’t want to become an artist like that. Caricatures and portraits aren’t where my passions lie.” Yusuke moved over to Akira to lean on the counter,” I just had the mood today.” 

“Obviously.” Akira teased,” I’ll buy my picture off of you.” 

“That’s a work in progress, and also I think I’ll keep that one.” Yusuke shook his head,” I’ve grown fond of looking at your face for comfort.” 

“That’s both sweet and weird.” Akira sat back. 

“I just want to be honest.” Yusuke offered a smile and it was leaving Akira with a strange feeling. He didn’t know what was going on but he just had a funny feeling,” Akira, could I ask you a favor?” 

“Sure?” 

“Would you help me with my art?” Yusuke questioned,” I’ve hit a bit of a slump and your insight could be very helpful.” 

“I know nothing about art. I’m lucky to draw stick figures.” Akira explained,” I don’t know what you’d have me do. Unless it’s modeling? I would like to keep my clothes on though.” 

“I’ve moved past the nude model phase for now.” Yusuke chuckled,” But you are a great inspiration to me and I would be honored if you would help me.” 

Akira smiled as he stared at Yusuke for a minute then nodded,” Alright, I’ll do it.” 

“Thank you.” 

The following morning Akira found himself wrapped around Yusuke again, he was easy to sleep with at least. Akira let out a quiet groan as he felt around to his side for his phone to check the time. The time became unimportant when a missed message from someone he hadn’t heard from in months displayed first. Akira sat up as he unlocked his phone to open the message he’d been sent by his twin brother.

_** REN KURUSU ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _3:45am: **REN** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ren** : You won’t be able to send a message back because I’ll have to block you again after I send this but I want you to know I’m still on your side Aki. I know you better than anyone else here and know you didn’t attack that man. Dad won’t talk about you. Mom threw out all the photos with you and I in them ( you know, the ones she can't just lie and say are me ) and everything they couldn’t fit into that box. I only managed to save a few of my own photos from her wrath and your favorite sweater. I want to mail it to you but they might find out. They act like you never existed and it pisses me off. I’m sorry. I felt like I needed to tell you since every time mom gets a letter you’ve sent her she just throws it away. I keep sneaking them out of the trash to read them even if I can't reply. You should just mail them to me so I know what's going on with you. It's the only way I'll hear from you. I can’t see you, they won’t let me, but when I’m we're enough I will go to wherever you are. I miss you. Himari-chan has been getting aggressive with me again and I wish you were here to tell her to fuck off. I’m sorry about the way this message is shaped but I have to get it all out in one. Um, Hosoi-sensei misses you. He’s the only other person that doesn’t think you’re guilty here. Oh wait! I saw Rise Kujikawa at the temple a few days ago! She was really sweet. I guess her celebrity persona and her true self are the same. She was there with Tatsumi-san. Tatsumi-san thinks what happened to you is bullshit and that we should find out the truth somehow. I think he misses you helping at the shop from time to time. I'll be the first to admit I'm trash with what he needs help with. He did gave me a pair of knit doll keychains for me to send one to you. I guess I could try to send it. I don’t know where you are though. They won’t tell me. Maybe I could try to sleuth it out of Detective Dojima. Nanako-chan might know? Hm. I have a plan! Watch your mail okay? I think this message is long enough. If I can manage to sneak you another message I will. If not, I believe in you still and I love you! -RenRen ❤  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_**{Ren has blocked Akira.}** _

Akira read the message over a few times before letting out a hollow laugh. This confirmed what he had thought was going on. At least Ren had the guts to tell him rather than toe around it. He made a mental note to check the mail often. He hoped that his brother would be able to send him what he meant to. It would be a nice reminder that there were at least a few people back home who still gave a shit about him being alive or not.

Akira hugged his phone to him just as he felt Yusuke’s hand on his back,” Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Akira nodded as he let his phone fall into his lap. He wasn’t ready to share about his family just yet,” Chest is sore.” He lied. 

Yusuke gave him a worried look before checking the time,” We should get ready for school.” 

“Yeah.” Akira expertly moved around to put his phone next to him before standing to take it again,” How’s the trip to Kosei from here anyway?” 

“Not too much farther than to Shujin.” Yusuke answered as he pulled off the shirt he had borrowed,” Thinking about transferring?” Yusuke was obviously teasing him. 

“As if they would take me.” Akira motioned at himself,” Criminal mastermind right here Yusuke.” Akira smirked then started to get changed as well. He was already ready to go back to bed but that was just him in the mornings. 

“Akira,” Yusuke called to him, earning Akira’s attention. After a moment Yusuke simply shook his head,” No, nevermind.” Akira wondered for a moment if he should press what Yusuke had wanted to say but it was really too early to tell. Maybe later.

______________________________________________________________

_** YUSUKE KITAGAWA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _12:14pm: **Yusuke** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yusuke** : Akira do you have time today?  
**Yusuke** : I was thinking about going to the park for some nature inspiration and would love your company.  
**Akira** : sure.  
**Akira** : should i meet you at the entrance?  
**Yusuke** : Yes. I’ll meet you later.  
**Akira** : 👍  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _5:26pm: **Goro** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Goro** : I’m alone right now.  
**Goro** : I’m wondering if perhaps you are too.  
**Goro** : I wanted to show you a place I like to frequent when I’m not busy.  
**Akira** : sure. where should i meet you?  
**Goro** : Kichijoji. A place called Penguin Sniper.  
**Akira** : weird name but okay. i’ll be there.  
**Akira** : seven good?  
**Goro** : Yes. I’ll see you there.  
**Akira** : cool.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** YUSUKE KITAGAWA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _1:58pm: **Yusuke** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yusuke** : Could you meet with me today?  
**Akira** : something up?  
**Yusuke** : No. I just wanted to see you.  
**Akira** : sure?  
**Yusuke** : I’ll be waiting at the Underground Walkway then.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ GORO AKECHI _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _4:48pm: **Goro** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Goro** : Do you think you’re up to learning a new game tonight?  
**Akira** : which one?  
**Goro** : I was thinking about billiards since we did darts last time.  
**Akira** : aha. you picked the game i know how to win.  
**Akira** : now you’re screwed.  
**Goro** : Haha. Alright, we’ll see about that.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ GORO AKECHI _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _12:17am: **Akechi** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Goro:** Forgive me for the late message.  
**Goro** : Are you free tomorrow?  
**Akira** : sure what’s up?  
**Goro** : A work acquaintance gave me tickets to the aquarium.  
**Goro** : It’d be a waste for them to go unused so I was wondering if you’d like to go with me?  
**Akira** : that almost sounds like a date akechi-san~  
**Goro** : Haha. Perhaps it is.  
**Akira** : 💘  
**Akira** : jk.  
**Goro** : I was as well. Your answer?  
**Akira** : yeah i’ll go.  
**Goro** : Great. I’ll send you the directions for Shinagawa Aquarium tomorrow then.  
**Goro** : Sleep well.  
**Akira** : you too.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ YUSUKE KITAGAWA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _12:35am: **Yusuke** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yusuke** : I apologize if I’ve woken you.  
**Yusuke** : I was wondering if you’d like to join me somewhere tomorrow.  
**Yusuke** : I won planetarium tickets for a showing.  
**Akira** : sorry yusuke. i already made plans tomorrow.  
**Akira** : if it’s at night i could make it? or another day?  
**Yusuke** : We can go tomorrow night.  
**Akira** : cool. where’s the planetarium?  
**Yusuke** : Ikebukuro. If you haven’t been I can meet you in Shibuya first.  
**Akira** : i’m good. akechi took me to ikebukuro before.  
**Akira** : i’ll meet you at the planetarium.  
**Yusuke** : See you around six?  
**Akira** : sounds like a plan. 👍  
**_{The chat thread has been closed.}_**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> few lil notes, ~~one is about the clear and obvious OC of Akira's younger sister.~~ (edit: 1/25/21- so I decided to change the 'sister' to a brother which will be Ren! twins bb. ty )I wanted to give him someone back home so he had a reason to actually go back aside from obligation like it feels in the game. i also wanted to use more of the P4 cast as people he might possibly know bc inaba isn't all that big. i don't really plan on having any of them actually appear but I like name dropping often. maybe one day it would be fun to write an 'investigation squad' vs 'the phantom thieves' fic. not like the Q2 game but something else. i also put the velvet room into a flowery lockdown because it's part of akira's cognition right? maybe? idk. it's just more fun this way. 
> 
> yesterday my husband was like," picture akechi with a bouquet of bloody camellias, maybe i should draw that." and it killed me bc the visual in my head was tragic and i kind of thought of it like akechi standing over akira's body holding the flowers. it's a bit morbid... i don't plan for that in the fic. it was just a visual i wanted to share bc my artistic skills are questionable. 
> 
> anyway. this chapter is a lil longer than the others, then the next one is longer as well but that's because of something i've put in there. please make sure to read the warnings i put on it before you dive into the next one. i took a lot of words out of the preview here so it's just voices. this is fun. also i'm gunna start a curious cat in case people are shy but wanna ask questions in anon? i get that way too. [curious cat](https://curiouscat.qa/pepsiismyblood)
> 
> preview:  
>  _“Such a selfless man…Tell me what to do.”_
> 
> _“Find someone who isn’t dying because they love someone else.”_
> 
> _“Other than that.”_
> 
> _“We could just… pretend.”_
> 
> _“What do you mean?”_


	9. gardening is cheaper than therapy, sike

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akira and akechi go on a "date" but it goes sour. needing to cope with what happened akira talks to maruki for some desperately needed therapy before he's supposed to hang out with yusuke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER. 
> 
> FIRST: THERE IS A DEATH INVOLVING A BACKGROUND CHARACTER.  
> it's kinda graphic. i'm not the best at writing it but there's mentions of blood and death. 
> 
> SECOND: THERE'S SEX.  
> again my writing is questionable but there will be sex in this chapter.
> 
> that's the warnings. also hi. i'm technically early from my time zone but most people are already on the 6th so here's your Saturday update! Yaaay!

The morning came quickly for Akira. His team was still off and on worrying about Kaneshiro but there was nothing else to do about it. Akira’s intention had been to spend a little time with each of them but for the last week he had been the ping pong ball in a game between Yusuke and Akechi. Akira felt closer to both of them at this point which was nice but there was something bothering him about it.

The thought ran through his head as the train doors opened for him to make his way to the aquarium. Akechi would be meeting him at noon so that gave him plenty of time to spend with Akechi before it was time for him to meet with Yusuke.

“You’re just in time.” Akechi’s voice pulled Akira from his mental train planning,” Your punctuality is refreshing.”

“Time management is something I’m good at.” Akira shrugged,” I think the only times I’m ever late to something is if something catastrophic happens. Like accidents or my smartphone suddenly downloading an app that takes me to a different dimension.” Akira joked as Akechi began to lead them inside.

“Yes I suppose that would certainly make it impossible to be on time.” Akechi laughed,” Thank you for joining me today.” 

“No problem. I haven’t been to an aquarium before.” Akira looked up at the building as they got in line. 

“You haven’t? Your schools didn’t take you to one?” Akechi seemed to find it odd.

“There was a trip but I missed it.” Akira explained,” I was fresh out of surgery so I couldn’t go.”

“I see, well I’ll be glad to be with you on your first aquarium trip.” Akechi smiled warmly,” May I ask what the surgery was for?”

“I don’t remember. It was a long time ago and I was a kid.” Akira shrugged. He was lying of course, but he wasn’t about to tell Akechi about his first hanahaki removal. At least his parents had caught that one in time, but now he was fucked,” Nothing that matters now. Maybe my appendix? Or was it my tonsils?” 

“I think knowing your own medical history is important. You might want to ask.” Akechi gave him a worried look before handing the tickets to the ticketer to get them inside. 

“I’ll get on that as soon as my mom returns any of my correspondence.” Akira tried not to sound too bitter about it. 

“She hasn’t spoken with you?” Akechi was suddenly interested and Akira wished that he wasn’t. 

“None of my family or the people I called my friends have been in contact with me since I ended up out here, and it’s not like my number changed. Half of them blocked me...” Akira answered, putting his hands into his pockets,” My dad was the last one to speak with me and he told me he was disowning me.” 

“I’m sorry…” Akechi gave Akira a pitied look.

“Well, I was a bit off base, my twin brother sent me a text about a week ago. I keep forgetting about it with everything else going on. He tried to let me know what was up but none of it stuck.” Akira took out his phone to look at it,” I got the impression that even after my probation is up I won’t be welcomed back home.”

“That’s rather difficult to deal with.” Akechi looked away from him to the tanks of fish they were passing by.

“Sorry for bringing the mood down. I should be telling my therapist instead.” Akira joked but after he said it he thought about how he hadn’t been to see Maruki in a while,” I hadn’t intended to put that all out there. It’s just been on my mind and I haven’t talked to anyone about it so… it just came out.”

“I’m flattered you consider me close enough to talk to about it.” Akechi shook his head,” You don’t have to feel like you need to hold back with me. My own father abandoned my mother and me as well.” Akechi watched a stingray float on by as he spoke,” Then she couldn’t really handle raising me and killed herself. Suffice to say I know what it’s like to be discarded by your family, though yours is still alive at least.” 

“Shit, I’m sorry.” Akira messed with his bangs,” I’m here bitching about mine and--” 

“You don’t have to apologize about that.” Akechi shook his head,” In an odd twisted way it’s good to hear you’re also struggling with your family. It makes us alike in a small way.”

“Yeah, I guess it does.” Akira gave Akechi a lopsided smile. It was odd how such a thing made him feel closer to Akechi but this worked didn’t it? Maybe if they connected like this then Akira had a shot in hell of surviving his probation and his garden.

They walked the aquarium, filling the space between them with idle talk, until Ohya came out of nowhere,” Hello Ohya-san.” Akechi greeted her,” What brings you here?” 

“Writing a piece for popular date spots.” Ohya answered, looking between Akechi and Akira she asked,” You two on a date or…?” 

“Just friends.” Akechi shook his head and Akira would only admit to being a little disappointed,” Don’t go writing about him and I like we’re a couple. I wouldn’t want to have to sue for libel.” 

“I would never do such a thing.” Ohya defended herself. Akira had to wonder if she had been considering it until Akechi warned her,” Akechi-kun you’re--” Ohya was cut off as someone nearby began to cough loudly. Someone else shouted in alarm as a young girl collapsed to the ground and then the proverbial ocean of people spread out to show Akira and Akechi the scene of this girl gripping the front of her chest as she spit up flowers. Akira’s new flower job helped him identify them as daffodils from the look of the bright yellow.

Akira felt a cold chill run through his body as flower after flower, not parts of one, whole flowers, fell out, ripped from steams as she struggled to pull them out of her airway. It was a pointless gesture though, they weren’t just in her throat, those were the ones that could make it outof her, the ones in her chest were likely causing even more damage. This poor girl was dying and there was no way to help her,” M-Mina-chan you didn’t tell me you had hanahaki!” the boy in front of her shouted, stepping back from her,” That’s not fair! H-hey!” 

The girl, Mina, scratched along the floor, Akira could see the blood from her nails breaking off, before she reached up to try pulling out more flowers that were getting caught in her throat. Akira watched in abject horror as the stems she pulled out were covered in blood. In his mind it was happening in slow motion then suddenly the floor shifted and that girl was him. The boy turned into Akechi and Akechi was laughing at him for being so foolish as to love him.

Akira felt his throat close up around the imagined flowers filling his lungs and esophagus. His heart felt as if it were being squeezed by the roots seeking out what blood existed in his body to drain him before he died. Would his death bloom be kept as a keepsake? Or would it be encased in glass and used as some science experiment? He was starting to hyperventilate as the images in his head flashed faster, the Phantom Thieves cried over his grave, his family nowhere in sight, and then there was nothing. No one ever came to see him again. He meant nothing to anyone anymore.

All at once Akira slammed back into the present as he felt the telling feeling of an attack creeping up the back of his throat as Akechi rushed forward to try and help the girl. He started to try clearing her airway to get air into her lungs but everyone knew it was useless,” Coward! You could have saved her if you’d accepted her!” Akechi snapped at the boy. Mina was shuddering in Akechi’s arms. She held onto him, stared up at him with a fearful look in her eyes before all at once she stopped. She was dead.

“I--I meant to... ” The boy stuttered.

“I can understand his upset but that’s not how it works,” Ohya muttered next to Akira as he started to cough as quietly as he could and turned away to try and keep it hidden,” It has to be real, it has to matter.” She let out a sigh as she looked over to Akira who was wheezing into his hand. After regarding him for a minute she spoke to him quietly,” Do you have it?” 

“No.” Akira shot but one more push put a petal in his hand. Clearly he’d been caught. 

“It’s him isn't it?” Ohya mused as Akira shoved the petal in his pocket,” I’m rooting for you.”

“Can we change the topic?” Akira didn’t want to be talking about this when Akechi came back. 

“Alright, you go to the school where the Phantom Thieves made their debut right?” Ohya asked as security rushed past to try and get the situation under control,” I’ve been assigned to write pieces about them. Any info you give me would help me get my writing done. In exchange I’ll keep your secret.” God, Akira was tired of getting blackmailed. 

“Fine.” Akira agreed as Akechi joined them again,” You okay?” Akira asked after getting a good look at Akechi’s expression. It was cold and angry. It wasn’t a look Akechi wore often but somehow Akira felt that it fit his features better than any of his smiles.

“I’m not the one who died.” Akechi looked back to the scene as the guards began to usure people along,” I can’t stand people like him.” 

“The boy?” Akira chanced to ask.

“He had a shot to save her.” Akechi frowned.

“Maybe, but it has to matter when you say it to them.” Ohya commented,” I’ve seen it before, lying about it doesn’t stop it from coming.” 

“I thought it was a personal perception?” Akira decided to ask,” Why would it matter if it was a lie in the moment?” 

“Once that death bloom starts it’s out of your hands. It’s not what you think anymore. The flower itself senses the intention behind the words from the other person. Plants react to people and their words just like anyone else. You’ve heard the studies I assume, Akechi-kun?” Ohya raised an eyebrow. This was good information for Akira but he really wished she wasn’t making it so obvious that she was digging for information.

“I have.” Akechi touched his chin,” Speaking with plants to encourage their growth has a long history of being proven effective. That’s been proven with free standing plants and hanahaki flowers. Hanahaki flowers sense something in the air from the person speaking. It makes it impossible for a saving confession to happen over text or phone or video. It has to be in person. It also has to be said before the roots dig into the victim’s heart.” Akechi shared what he knew,” Still, I think that girl at least deserved to die hearing she was loved. Even if it was a lie.”

“I guess I have to agree,” Ohya mused,” When the lights are going out and I know I’m gunna die like that I would like to hear it. Even if it was a honey coated lie. What about you Kurusu-kun?” 

“I-yeah. I agree.” Akira nodded.

“ _Due to unforeseen circumstances the Aquarium will be closing for the day. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please stop by the ticket stand on your way out for a refund. Thank you.”_ A voice spoke over the intercom.

“No shit.” Ohya sighed,” See you kids around.” She waved then left.

“We should go as well.” Akechi suggested before leading the way out. Akira waited by the bathrooms as Akechi got his refund. It gave Akira time to think about what he had seen, and that was how he was going to die? He was going to end up on his knees trying blindly to pull out the roots of his discarded love? Shit. The image of it shook him down to his core and it left him with one determination, if he was going to go like that he wanted to make sure he didn’t scar someone else with it. He didn’t want to leave someone with the image of him pulling flowers from his throat in a mad effort to live. He’d hide away and die quietly.

“Here,” Akechi said, pulling Akira out of his thoughts. Akechi was holding his hand out to Akira,” They decided to give me back the tickets in cash. Put this toward the joint team fund.” Akira looked at the cash before taking it with a shrug, he needed to fill out the cash reserves again after that rock salt incident. He really needed to go back and talk with that fortune teller,” I’m sorry the trip was ruined by that. We could try another day.” 

“Sure.” Akira said in a noncommittal kind of way.

“Or we could try something less romantically charged.” Akechi suggested after some thought,” Let me try one more place before I let you go? Unless that put you off. I can understand if it did.” 

“We can try one more place.” Akira agreed. It had completely put him off but he felt the need to still try.

“Great, let’s head to Kichijoji.” Akechi motioned for them to set off. Akira’s mind was still back on the poor girl who he had just watched die. No it wasn’t just her, he thought about the rash of overthinking that left him feeling wobbly in the knees and pale. At least he assumed so as Akechi stopped him from getting on the train,” Perhaps we should call it a day actually.” 

“Why?” 

“I’m still lingering on the aquarium incident.” Akechi explained,” I think I’d like a little time alone instead. I’m sorry, Kurusu.” Was Akechi saying it was his problem because he really felt that way or because he was trying to give Akira the option to go home without making it seem awkward..

“I see.” Akira nodded,” If you feel that way I’ll head home instead then.” 

“Alright, I’ll text you later.” Akechi offered,” Let me walk you to your line at least?” Akira agreed silently and the two set off to wait for Akira’s train. Once it arrived Akechi bid him goodbye and Akira went home.

**_ KASUMI YOSHIZAWA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _4:16pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : this might come off as weird but do you have maruki’s number?  
**Kasumi** : I do!  
**Kasumi** : Let me send it to you!  


**Kasumi has shared a contact.**

**Kasumi** : There you go Senpai!  
**Akira** : thank you.  
**Akira** : and thanks for not asking why.  
**Kasumi** : That’s between you and Maruki-sensei! I’m just happy to help!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** TAKUTO MARUKI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _4:16pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : This is Akira Kurusu.  
**Akira** : I got your contact from Yoshizawa, sorry.  
**Maruki** : That’s alright Kurusu-kun.  
**Maruki** : How can I help you?  
**Akira** : Do you remember that hypothetical conversation we had?  
**Maruki** : About the hanahaki?  
**Akira** : That’s the one.  
**Akira** : So we’re both in on the joke that it’s not hypothetical, right?  
**Maruki** : I believe so.  
**Akira** : Good.  
**Akira** : I saw my doctor and started treatment on it while she looked at my scans. Do you know what ficus is in hanahaki cases?  
**Maruki** : Oh no…  
**Maruki** : I do have the misfortune of knowing.  
**Akira** : Yeah, so I have that.  
**Akira** : So I’m pretty done in.  
**Maruki** : Before you go further, could we meet to talk instead?  
**Maruki** : It can be anywhere.  
**Akira** : Uh. Sure.  
**Akira** : I… have to tell Sojiro anyway so I guess come to Lablanc?  
**Maruki** : Your home address?  
**Akira** : Yeah I’ll send it to you.  
**Maruki** : I’ll be there as quick as I can.  
**Akira** : Great. I’ll wait. I think I’m going to need the backup.  
**Akira** : Then I have something that I actually need to talk about in a therapy capacity.  
**Maruki** : Of course. I’ll be there in an hour.  
**Akira** : I’ll have some coffee ready for you.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Sojiro knew something was up. Akira looked pale and uncomfortable as all hell but he didn’t bring it up. Akira had to assume it because he didn’t want to pry. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, but Akira had been pretty guarded about some topics so Sojiro backed off to let him have space. It was nearing the time Marukit was due to arrive so Akira started to make coffee for him.

“Who is that for? The detective kid?” Sojiro questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“No. I-- uh-- I asked my school therapist to come here.” Akira admitted,” Something happened today and I wanted to speak with him.” 

“Oh.” Sojiro sounded a bit noncommittal about it and looked like he was thinking pretty hard on something,” Should I close the shop? You can use it to talk.” 

“That...would actually be nice, but please don’t leave yet.” Akira added when Sojiro started to motion like he was going to take off his apron,” I have something I need to tell you.” Akira explained just before Maruki walked in,” Right on time.” 

“I try to be,” Maruki smiled then looked around,” This is a nice little shop. I wouldn’t have known it was here if you hadn’t told me.” Maruki looked to Sojiro,” You must be his guardian. I’m Takuto Maruki. I’m working as a therapist at his school for the time being.” Maruki bowed his head in greeting before he sat. 

“Let me lock the door.” Sojiro moved around to turn the sign and lock the door before he came back around as Akira poured Maruki a cup,” So, he said he’s got something he needs to tell me too. I wanna be clear I’m just making sure he’s got a place to sleep at night. I’m not really a parent.” 

“I understand, but you’re still his guardian right now so it’s important to discuss what is happening with him,” Maruki motioned for Sojiro to sit and so he did, giving his name as he got situated. He looked uncomfortable as all hell but he was going to listen so that was good,” Kurusu-kun would you like me to handle this or would you like to speak?” 

“I… could you?” Akira looked down at the cup he was pouring another drink into.

“Alright,” Maruki smiled softly then spoke to Sojiro,” Are you aware of hanahaki Sakura-san?”

“Yeah.” Sojiro cleared his throat,” Had it when I was younger.”

“That saves some time and some explanation on required treatments...” Maruki motioned to Akira,” He has it.” 

“Shit.” Sojiro hissed looking at Akira as the teen pushed a cup toward him,” How long?” 

“From what I understand it rooted between April and May after he arrived.” Maruki explained,” One of your patrons is the person in question I believe.” 

“The detective kid…” Sojiro hit the nail on the head. He paid attention after all,” We’ll get it removed and I’ll tell the kid to move on.” Sojiro said with some finality. It was one reason Akira just wanted to live out his probation with it intact until he went home, but then the ficus hit and now he was fucked. 

“Unfortunately, it’s not that easy.” Maruki shook his head,” After going to his doctor it’s been revealed he suffers from ficus.” 

“What the hell is that?” Sojiro frowned. Akira was actually glad he didn’t know even though he had the hanahaki gene. Akira couldn’t wish this on anyone.

“It means that unless caught quickly the roots take such a firm hold on the patient that it’s impossible to remove.” Maruki looked to Akira with pity in his eyes,” It means even if you were to tell the ‘detective kid’ to not come around, Kurusu-kun will die anyway.”

“Are you kid--” Sojiro cut himself off and looked at the coffee Akira had pushed at him,” Your parents could have sent that with your medical record.”

“Did you read it over?” Maruki questioned. 

“I did.” Sojiro nodded,” I was keeping an eye out for any hanahaki signs but I wasn’t expecting it to be a guy until maybe last week? I didn’t watch them getting close.” Sojiro explained and Akira felt bad. Sojiro looked like he felt this was all his fault when it wasn’t,” So, the only option is to get the detective kid to love you back huh?” 

“Assuming that’s the correct person, yes.” Maruki nodded,” You’ll have to work with his doctor on treatments to extend his life expectancy. I strongly, **strongly** , advise against taking matters into your own hands regarding the person at the source.” 

“I know how it works.” Sojiro waved a hand,” I was young and in love once. I won’t push where I’m not welcome.” 

“Alright.” Maruki smiled then looked at Akira,” You said you also wanted to talk about something else that happened today?” 

“Yeah, but that’s less of a… well,” Akira motioned vaguely at Sojiro.

“Got it. I’ll go buy some groceries for tomorrow.” Sojiro stood to hang his apron and put his hat on before he left. Once he was outside Sojiro paused to light up a smoke then pulled out his phone to make a phone call.

“Now, go ahead and tell me what’s been happening.” Maruki turned to face Akira.

“Okay, so,” Akira put his hands on the counter as he thought back on the girl,” so… I know Sojiro called him out as a ‘detective kid’ but I’m not going to name him.” 

“That’s fine.” Maruki nodded. 

“So, detective kid, we’ll name him Kuro for some ease, invited me along to an aquarium. He got tickets from a co-worker so I went along because… Well, I keep hoping maybe it’ll work, and I’ve never been to one before either. Besides the point though. We met with someone we know but before we could really get into the witty banter of everything, a girl started choking.” Akira’s expression turned haunted as he remembered her pulling the lengths of flowers and stems from her mouth,” She was there with someone she loved, but he didn’t love her back. She died to her garden right there.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry you had to see that Kusuru-kun.” Maruki looked about as mortified as someone should.

“Yeah, it wasn’t pretty. There were daffodils and blood all over the place.” Akira closed his eyes,” Kuro ran over to try helping her, but there was nothing to do. She suffocated right there, and the guy she loved? His last words to her were ‘you didn’t tell me you had hanahaki. That’s not fair.’ Like her disease was an inconvenience.” Akira reached his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose under his glasses,” I nearly broke into a fit of my own right there. My head started to run me through the scenario like I was that girl who died. After everyone said a good-bye I was just forgotten and left to rot… Scared the hell out of me.” 

“I can imagine why.” Maruki nodded,” That’s a rather traumatic experience for anyone to see, but being in your position it must have been even worse.” Maruki placed his hands on the counter,” Tell me, how are you feeling now after seeing that, and knowing you have ficus roots?”

“I’m feeling like when it gets to February I’m going to make like a sick cat and hide.” Akira said bitterly,” I refuse to put someone else through that. So many people watched her die, and the guy? Probably scarred for life. I don’t know what set her off, or if she planned it, but I know I don’t want to ruin someone like that.” 

“Most people on their last leg would chance a confession because one way or another they’re going to die unless they're accepted.” Maruki turned his coffee cup in thought,” You’re sure you don’t want to chance telling Kuro how you feel?”

“I won’t.” Akira shook his head,” He’s… lost a lot already.” Akira remembered the discussion he and Akechi had just had hours ago,” I’m not going to risk his entire mental state because I end up dead due to my stupid feelings.”

“I wouldn’t call your feelings stupid.” Maruki shook his head with a soft smile,” Your feelings are as valid as anyone else’s. You don’t have to dismiss yourself as if you’re just being dramatic because your garden is threatening to kill you.”

“It’s not a threat though, it’s going to happen.” Akira laughed bitterly,” The best I can do for the people I care about is to make sure they can take care of themselves before I choke to death.” Akira leaned back against the shelf, careful not to bump anything,” I just wish I could get my parents to believe I didn’t do anything wrong before I croak. As if they’d give me the time of day.”

“Have they spoken with you since you’ve been here?” Maruki looked alarmed.

“Not a peep. My brother sent me a sneaky message so I’m guessing my parents are watching his phone history like a hawk.” Akira shrugged,” I’d pretty much accepted I wouldn’t see him again until we are old enough to live on our own. Now I just have to accept that I won’t at all.” 

“While I admire your willingness to put the past behind you, you might be pushing it too fast.” Maruki gave Akira a worried look.

“It’s all I can do.” Akira sighed, "Mortality has made me realize I need to put some things in motion before I really do kick the ol’ bucket.” Akira laughed bitterly again. This was not a good look for him,” I know that making jokes about it isn’t helping. For me it’s just a coping issue. Sorry doc.” 

“Don’t apologize. Some people cope better with morbid jokes and that’s alright. I’m just glad you reached out to me. It’s important to get the emotions out so they don’t build up to a breaking point.” Maruki smiled,” Is there anything else you want to talk about?” 

“Not right now.” Akira shook his head,” I’m pretty much done.” 

“Well, since I’m here why don’t we discuss some mental training tips and then I’ll be on my way?” Maruki suggested. 

“Sounds good.”

Once Maruki was gone and Sojiro came back Akira excused himself for a nap. He was tired after the long day and dreamless sleep beckoned him. Morgana greeted him at the top of the stairs. He’d heard everything and just offered Akira the best smile he could as a cat. Akira gave Morgana a pat on the head then flopped into bed to pass out.

_** YUSUKE KITAGAWA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _6:14pm: **Yusuke** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yusuke** : Are you okay?  
**Yusuke** (6:30pm): I’m starting to worry, you’re not the type to be late like this.  
**Yusuke** (6:45pm): Please respond. I am concerned.  
**Yusuke** (6:51pm): Akira if you don’t reply I’m going to come over to check on you.  
**Akira** : qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq  
**Yusuke** : ????  
**Yusuke** : Are you alright?  
**Akira** : qwrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr  
**Yusuke** : I’m going over there.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The next Akira woke he could hear Morgana talking to someone. With a grumble Akira pushed himself up to look at Yusuke. There was a lot of general confusion on his face before he was hit with the realization of why Yusuke was there,” Oh fuck. I’m so sorry.” 

“You don’t have to apologize.” Yusuke shook his head,” Mona explained the situation. I just wish you hadn’t seen someone die like that.” 

“Ah… yeah…” Akira looked to his hands,” Listen, I still don’t want people to know.” Akia looked away from Yusuke,” I just want to live as normally as I can with everyone. I love you all dearly and I want to actually have some fun.” 

“Akira…” Yusuke said. Akira couldn’t look at him. His voice already carried enough pity, he didn’t want everyone to sound like that,” Why did it have to be Akechi?” The question wasn’t something Akira expected to hear. Akira looked up to watch Yusuke cross the room and pull him into a tight embrace,” I love you.”

Akira swallowed as his face was pressed into Yusuke’s chest. From the way Yusuke’s heart was hammering in his chest Akira had no voice to speak with. Yusuke was being serious. Akira heard a light thump from across the room and assumed Morgana left to give them some privacy. So now it was just the two of them and Akira’s face was thoroughly flushed.

“I realize my confession does nothing for the garden growing in your chest, but I wish it would.” Yusuke released Akira from the embrace but still held onto his shoulders,” Is it tragic I wish to break you from your fate to make you mine?” Yusuke was dramatic in most things, but even Akira couldn’t deny how fucking romantic he sounded. He was going to make a great boyfriend for some lucky person.

“I guess that’s why you’ve been playing ping-pong with Akechi huh?” Akira tried to lighten the conversation but Yusuke’s expression didn’t even twitch,” Shit… Yusuke. Um,” Akira’s heart was pounding in his chest and he felt his face heating up again,” I wish you could too.” Akira answered putting a hand on his chest,” But I’m a fucking mess and this is the hand I’ve been dealt. I could return your feelings but… I’m dead in eight months or less Yusuke. You deserve to find someone who can stay with you.”

“Such a selfless man…” Yusuke lowered his hands along Akira’s arms until they were just above his elbows. Yusuke then dropped his head to Akira’s shoulder and begged,” Tell me what to do.” 

“Find someone who isn’t dying because they love someone else.” Akira said a bit bluntly. He felt like it might be the best way to get through to Yusuke. It seemed to work a little as Yusuke twitched but he didn’t yet pull away.

“Other than that.”

“We could just… pretend.” Akira suggested.

“What do you mean?” Yusuke pulled back to look at Akira. 

“I can’t really say it without it coming out badly, so being direct as possible, I can pretend to be with you.” Akira answered and it hurt him to say it,” I’ll be with you.” Akira thought about what he said before smiling bitterly, he’d at least get a shot at feeling loved before passing right?

Yusuke gave Akira a hard stare before pulling away,” No.” The tone Yusuke used wasn’t harsh, but sad. It was obvious he wanted to say yes.

“Why?” 

“Your best chance at being alive is Akechi. If we’re together, even if it’s pretend, it’ll never happen and you _will_ die. I’d rather lose romantically than lose you forever.” Yusuke took a deep breath and then sighed,” I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize.” Akira shook his head and stood up,” If it makes you feel even a little better, I wish we’d met sooner. It might have been different. I’m sorry.” Akira took one of Yusuke’s hands to give it a squeeze,” Hey,” Akira called for Yusuke’s attention when the artist refused to look at him. When Yusuke did finally look Akira pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. 

Yusuke froze at the kiss until Akira pulled back,” Why?” His voice was just above a whisper.

“Because I could. Do you hate me?” Akira questioned with a sly smirk on his face.

“I could never.” Yusuke chewed his bottom lip. Akira could seem him working through some internal battle and Akira knew what side he wanted to win. 

Carefully Akira placed another kiss on Yusuke and another before trailing it down the side of his neck. This seemed to have the effect Akira wanted as Yusuke mumbled,” Fuck it,” then went for another kiss. This one was far less innocent and with a lot more tongue. Yusuke guided them back until the back of Akira’s knees hit his bed and he fell back to his bed. This was it. At least it didn’t take much work to get this out of him.

Yusuke followed his mouth only pausing to mutter,” Boss already closed shop.” 

Akira had a smartass reply to that but Yusuke’s mouth was on his again before he could get the words out. Yusuke was being far more aggressive than Akira would have expected from the eccentric teen. He grabbed fistfuls of Akira’s hair to tug it lightly then press them closer again. After a few minutes of this Yusuke moved his mouth down Akira’s neck to mouth at his pulse,” Yusuke-” Akira gasped when the artist grinded against him,” Fuck~!” 

“Would one night be alright?” Yusuke managed to gather himself enough to actually ask. Akira got a moment to actually think and his head was telling him they shouldn’t but his dick was telling him to give it a go.

“Yes.” Akira sighed as his fingers found their way to Yusuke’s belt,” Lube on the desk.”

Yusuke didn’t ask again, and Akira was glad for it. He just wanted to do this and not think about all the reasons why he shouldn’t. While Yusuke was gone, Akira worked on getting his own pants off. Once he kicked them off to the ground Yusuke returned to him to kiss him again,” I’ll be slow.” 

“Not too slow I hope.” Akira chuckled before Yusuke helped him get his shirt off then removed his own clothes. A lot of things went through Akira’s mind all at once, first was that Yusuke’s skin was flawless. His torso was long and it made sense as to why he felt like he towered over everyone else. The second was that Yusuke was at full attention and he was being very careful about leaving any marks on Akira’s skin.

“You’re so thoughtful.” Akira huffed.

“I’m being very selfish right now.” Yusuke admitted uncapping the lube. Conversation was souring the mood pretty quickly for Akira. It was just leaving him with an awkward feeling in his chest and it wasn’t what he wanted right now. He was on a quick route to calling everything off when Yusuke seemed to get it somehow and stroked Akira,” I hope you don’t mind me taking control.” Yusuke said before pressing a finger into Akira.

“It’s good.” Akira moaned out with his toes curling into the sheets. The hot night was doing them no favors as a layer of sweat covered them both before they even began the more intense actions. Yusuke was careful, adding another finger into Akira after he felt sure that his partner was relaxed enough to take it. Yusuke was taking his time, but Akira was starting to get impatient. With a growl Akira moved away from Yusuke’s hands to sit up.

“I--I’m sorry.” Yusuke sounded panicked. He probably thought Akira decided he didn’t want this. That was until Akira grabbed him to push him onto the bed and flip their positions,” Akira?” 

“You’re taking too long.” Akira mumbled, straddling the artist. He reached back to line Yusuke up with his hole then began to push himself down. With a moan Akira sank down until he was fully seated over Yusuke’s cock. His limbs twitched as his body adjusted to the sensation of something inside of him. Meanwhile, Yusuke’s head was tipped back exposing his bobbing adam's apple. From his position Akira assumed the sensation of being inside Akira was too much for him. Akira could feel Yusuke throbbing inside him and was sure he’d be coming soon,” I should have asked-- if this is your first.” Akira panted.

“I-it is.” Yusuke moved his head to look at Akira,” I might be a disappointing partner.” 

“It’s mine too.” Akira admitted,” I guess I just… wanted to be with someone who loved me.” Akira finally explained his actions. When he really thought about it this was the answer that made sense. Yusuke said he loved Akira, Akira wanted to feel it at least once before dying, this was fine.

“Akira.” Yusuke said. The pity Yusuke carried in his tone was almost enough to make Akira cry. Why was he just so fucking pitiable? Yusuke moved with some effort to sit upright without knocking Akira loose. He then wrapped his arms tightly around Akira to try comforting him,” I will always love you. Even if you don’t love me.” Yusuke promised.

“I’m a fucking mess.” Akira shook his head as he wrapped his arms around Yusuke as well,” But thank you.” Akira moved a hand back to cup Yusuke’s face. Once Yusuke looked up at him Akira kissed him again then began to move. Akira held he kiss as long as he could but he had to breathe, and with his breathing came his moans mixed with praises and Yusuke’s name.

Yusuke kept them pressed together as he moved his own hips in time with Akira’s movements. He then moved a hand between them to stroke Akira in time with his thrusts to bring Akira closer to release. With everything combined it wasn’t long before Akira’s moans grew louder as he felt an approaching climax,” Y-Yusuke I’m so close.” Akira muttered before begging for more.

“Me too.” Yusuke groaned into Akira’s neck,” What-ahhh- what do you-you want--me to do?” Yusuke struggled to get his words out between heavy breathing and pants.

“I-inside.” Akira answered to which Yusuke seemed to almost go feral over. He let out another long groan before mouthing over Akira’s collarbone to suck a dark mark into his skin, he could hide that. Then Yusuke’s hands both moved to Akira’s hips to help pull him down harder into each thrust until both of them came.

After his climax Akira leaned heavily into Yusuke. For his first time having sex Akira felt pretty good, and rather content in that. Yusuke held Akira up as he caught his breath before shifting them around so they were laying side by side instead,” I’ll be right back.” Yusuke promised placing a kiss on Akira’s forehead before he jumped back into his pants to go downstairs. A few minutes later Yusuke returned with a small bowl and washcloths,” Are you in any pain?” 

“No.” Akira answered before sighing through his nose,” You were pretty careful.” Akira offered a smile before Yusuke began to clean him up.

“I didn’t want to hurt you.” Yusuke commented,” You’ve had enough hurt already.” 

“You’re sweet.” Akira chuckled.

“I...After you showed me your hanahaki I thought about what I could do to help.” Yusuke looked troubled,” I couldn’t come up with anything that would actually work until I thought to myself, ‘if I could somehow convince you to love me instead I could save you.’ I didn’t look up if it was possible, I didn’t want to be disappointed if it weren’t.” 

“Yusuke.” Akira smiled sadly,” You have such a good heart.” Akira sat up to look at his friend in the eyes,” I do love you, it’s just… not the same.” Akira pressed a kiss to Yusuke’s forehead,” Thank you for loving an idiot like me though. I don’t deserve it.”

“You deserve all the love.” Yusuke didn’t have a comparison to add to it because it was just a fact, he believed Akira deserved any and all love.

“Thank you.” Akira smiled before yawning,” Tired now, sleep with me?” 

“You should put some pants on while I put this away first.” Yusuke nodded as he stood,” I’ll borrow something as well if you don’t mind.” 

“Honestly you should just leave some pajamas here.” Akira teased.

“Maybe I will later.” Yusuke smiled then vanished downstairs. Akira got up to get changed into his pajamas and folded Yusuke’s shirt before crawling back into bed to get comfy. Once Yusuke returned and got into his own pajamas, Akira gathered the artist up into his arms to drift off to sleep once more. 

“I love you.” Yusuke repeated and that phrase followed Akira into his sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tada-! It was yusuke. who woulda guessed that? the next sex thing in this fic isn't for a very, very long time. like... i just wrote it into what is effectively chapter 25. anyway, uhhh, words. god how do i talk about this chapter? i'm like a decade ahead of this mentally. oh right, as with before interactions with maruki, i am not a therapist so i'm just writing what makes sense to me so take that with a grain of salt. 
> 
> akechi is pretty good at reading akira's mood so that's most certainly why he was like "you know what? rain check." Then telling sojiro about the hanahaki is kind important for stuff since he's akira's guardian. basically i wanted them to connect on one more thing. i also liked the idea of giving certain people that akira encounters hanahaki as well, or that they get it at least.
> 
> this whole chapter does kind of drive akira's "i'm not telling him" shit with akechi because he's not sure he'll have his affections returned and doesn't want to die like that in front of other people or in front of akechi for that matter. kind of along the lines of "i actually love him a lot i don't want to scar him with me choking like that" it feels like it would be more personal for him than that stranger since akira and akechi are close.
> 
> anyway, yusuke really does love akira but he knows that if he wants akira alive then he's gotta get with akechi so he's like 'i'll be selfish for one (1) night. as a treat' and then they did the bang.
> 
> i want to thank you guys who comment! especially the ones who hope my husband is doing well. he thinks it's funny people are saying it since i kinda mentioned it as a side note. he appreciates you all just as much as I do! even the ones who don't comment. I hope you guys all have a great day and thanks for reading again! :D
> 
> preview:  
>  _ **Ann** : so…  
>  **Akira** : so….?  
>  **Ann** : what’s with the hickey?  
>  **Akira** : shit.  
>  **Ann** : who’d you get it from?  
>  **Akira** : a live octopus.  
>  **Ann** : doubt.  
>  **Akira** : a tentacle persona.  
>  **Ann** : possible.  
>  **Ann** : but still doubt.  
>  **Akira** : let me come up with a lie and get back to you.  
>  **Ann:** uh-huh.  
> _


	10. a kind heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akira and akechi talk with kasumi, the boys ( sans akechi ) buy yukata for the fireworks festival before medjed makes a move. so much for a peaceful summer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know what? fuck it. i can update when i want to because i want to and my weird day has me seeking some validation. so here. i'll get back to actually writing tomorrow. yes.

“Kurusu,” Akechi called to snap Akira out of his daze. When Akira blinked and looked around he realized he was working at Rafflesia. Time had seemingly gotten away from him as he didn’t realize that the foot traffic through the underground mall had died off and it seemed Hanasaki had left at some point. How did he space out so badly? “Kurusu.” Akechi called to him again, snapping Akira’s attention to him. 

“Yeah, sorry. What’re you doing here Akechi?” Akira approached him glancing down the hall. All the shops were closed up. He really stayed that late?

“I have flowers I need to pick up. Can you help me?” Akechi asked. 

“Did you already order the bouquet?” Akira nodded looking around for the order registry. 

“No. I need them for a sudden funeral.” Akechi explained. 

“Funeral?” Akira looked back at him,” Who…?” Why did he ask? It was probably someone Akechi worked with.

“Yours of course.” Akechi answered with a sweet smile. 

“What?” Akira asked, confused. What kind of sick joke was Akechi making here?

“Your hanahaki,” Akechi stepped toward Akira with his hand out to take something Akira didn’t realize he had in his hands, no wait, it wasn’t it in hands. It was in his chest? Why didn’t it hurt? This was too much,” it killed you.” Akechi finished as he took hold of the bouquet to hold them to his face and smell. Akira’s stomach twisted painfully as he realized the flowers in the bouquet were camellias drenched in blood,” Camellias are beautiful.”

The ground under Akira suddenly vanished and his vision went black as he fell backwards into nothing. When he could see again he was standing in a graveyard looking down the rows of gravestones at the spot where Akechi stood holding the bouquet in his hands before he knelt down to place them on a grave. Once he had them set he stood back up to look toward where Akira stood watching him. 

Slowly Akira made his way over to the grave to look down at the name. It was his. Arms wrapped around Akira from behind but it wasn’t just one pair, it was probably closer to a dozen. They constricted around Akira’s chest and stomach to squeeze him. One gloved hand snaked his way up to hold Akira’s face from the chin as Akechi’s voice spoke into his ear,” You thought anyone would care if you were gone?” Akira watched in horror as the name of the gravestone vanished only to be replaced with ‘transfer student’ instead.

“You don’t even deserve to be remembered. Everyone around you pities you.” Akechi’s voice started to shift into a different one, and the hand on his chin moved up to cover his mouth as Akira realized the new voice was Yusuke’s,” You’re good for nothing more than causing trouble.” Again the voice changed as another hand moved along the back of his head to cover his eyes,” No one asked for your help.” Ann’s voice told him. 

“You seriously try too hard. It’s gross.” said Ryuji’s voice.

“No one even cared that you vanished from your home. You think people here will care?” Makoto’s voice came next. 

“When you die just be quiet about it.” Sojiro’s voice told him next. 

“Hide away and don’t be a bother.” Akechi’s voice came back around before Akira swore he felt lips on his then a stab in the chest around his heart.

With a yelp Akira threw himself from his bed to land painfully on the wood floor of his bedroom. In his panic he kicked Morgana across the room and startled Yusuke awake,” Akira?!” Yusuke struggled loose of the blankets to get to Akira,” What’s wrong? Hey.” 

“I-I-” Akira breathed deeply a few times before he drew his legs to his chest to hide his face in his knees,” Bad dream.” 

“Tell me.” Yusuke demanded. 

“No.” Akira shook his head. 

“After you kicked me across the room I demand to know what freaked you out that bad.” Morgana moved to the two boys.

“I-I don’t want to. Please.” Akira basically begged. Yusuke and Morgana were silent for a few minutes before Yusuke simply dragged Akira close to hug him.

“You’re safe.” Yusuke rubbed small circles into his back,” I’ve got you.” 

“Thank you.”

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _7:56am: **Kitchen Sink** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Kitchen Sink** : I’ve heard from a work contact that Kaneshiro turned himself in.  
**Kitchen Sink** : He’s under protective custody right now but there’s rumors that he’s sharing a lot of information with the police about other gangsters and criminals.  
**Kitchen Sink** : So you did more than change the heart of a single criminal.  
**Kitchen Sink:** The Phantom Thieves actually helped to bring down an entire small faction of yazuka.  
**Kitchen Sink:** This is a major accomplishment.  
**big spoon:** does that mean you won’t arrest us now?  
**Kitchen Sink** : I already said I wasn’t going to.  
**Kitchen Sink:** But this does help reaffirm that I’m making a good decision.  
**big spoon:** \m/…(>.<)…\m/  
**Kitchen Sink** : ?  
**big spoon:** rock on?  
**Kitchen Sink:** …?  
**big spoon:** put your thumb over your two middle fingers and keep your pinky and pointer extended.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Oh. I see.  
**cake pan:** are you serious akechi-kun?  
**Kitchen Sink** : I’m not familiar with emotes.  
**cake pan** : what?  
**cake pan** : oh!  
**cake pan** : not that! i mean about kaneshiro!  
**Kitchen Sink** : Oh. Yes. I am serious.  
**potato masher:** hell ya!  
**potato masher:** i think that means its celebration time  
**potato masher:** where should we go?  
**The Juicer:** No where.  
**The Juicer:** We have end of term exams to study for.  
**potato masher:** for real?!  
**potato masher:** we take down a serious mob boss and youre not going to celebrate?  
**The Juicer** : It would be suspicious to celebrate before exams.  
**The Juicer** : So to avoid suspicion we should wait until after.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Makoto is right.  
**big spoon** : ok. when is study group?  
**cake pan** : PLS. I NEED HELP.  
**cake pan** : akira i’m actually begging you.  
**cake pan** : i did so much better than usual after your help.  
**big spoon** : shhhhh. it’s okay ann. i’ve got you.  
**The Juicer** : That’s right. Akira, you got top marks in your class didn’t you?  
**big spoon** : i am the smartest delinquant.  
**big spoon** : but also studying is easy for me.  
**big spoon** : i am a sponge. 🧽🧽🧽🧽  


**cake pan has changed Akria’s name to sponge boy.**

**Kitchen Sink** : It’s a good thing to be.  
**sponge boy** : wait until someone tells him sponges belong in sinks.  
**cake pan** : asdlashdgkljh AKIRA!!!!!  
**potato masher** : hhhhhhhow about tomorrow? for study  
**little spoon** : My exams have already passed but I would like to join.  
**Kitchen Sink** : I’ll have to pass as I have an interview tomorrow.  
**sponge boy** : sucks to be popular. let’s do it at leblanc.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Maybe I should come after all.  
**sponge boy** : i’m fishing him in with coffee. （*＾＾）/~~~~~~~~~~☕  
**Kitchen Sink** : I’m joking sadly. Please enjoy a cup for me.  
**little spoon** : I will.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:27am: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ann** : so…  
**Akira** : so….?  
**Ann** : what’s with the hickey?  
**Akira** : shit.  
**Ann** : who’d you get it from?  
**Akira** : a live octopus.  
**Ann** : doubt.  
**Akira** : a tentacle persona.  
**Ann** : possible.  
**Ann** : but still doubt.  
**Akira** : let me come up with a lie and get back to you.  
**Ann:** uh-huh.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** TAKUTO MARUKI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:14am: **Maruki** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Maruki** : Hello it’s me.  
**Maruki** : I was wondering if you’d like a session today?  
**Maruki** : I was also hoping to talk with you about my paper today.  
**Maruki** : If not that’s alright.  
**Akira** : i’m down. lunch or after school?  
**Maruki** : Lunch.  
**Akira** : cool. see you then.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _11:19am: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : mishima, i need a favor.  
**Akira** : it’s going to be a weird one.  
**Akira** : but i can only trust you with this.  
**Mishima** : Everything okay?  
**Akira** : i need someone to lie about having sex with.  
**Mishima** : …. What?  
**Akira** : i 100% had sex like… recently.  
**Akira** : that sounds like boasting. but listen,  
**Akira** : i need someone else to name in the act of it.  
**Akira** : because the truth is just… yeah. i can’t deal with people knowing.  
**Mishima** : Was it an older guy?  
**Akira** : no.  
**Akira** : i can’t tell you who.  
**Akira** : actually i can you’re not like… involved… anyway  
**Akira** : would you keep it from, oh, literally everyone?  
**Mishima** : Sure?  
**Akira** : that’s not a yes.  
**Mishima** : I’ll keep it between us.  
**Akira** : cool.  
**Akira** : yusuke kitagawa ring any bells?  
**Mishima** : That kid who was Madarame’s student?  
**Akira** : yes.  
**Akira** : it’s complicated.  
**Akira** : but i really can’t let others know.  
**Akira** : so please be my faux-fuck.  
**Akira** : my no-booty booty-call.  
**Mishima** : Tragic that there won’t be any involved but sure. I’ll lie when asked.  
**Mishima** : Who tops?  
**Akira** : surprise me.  
**Mishima** : Hm. I feel like I wouldn’t be believed if I said I did.  
**Mishima** : So I guess you.  
**Akira** : thank you.  
**Mishima** : No prob. :D  
**Akira** : can i call you yuuki?  
**Mishima** : Sure! I’ll call you Akira too then.  
**Akira** : cool. thanks yuuki.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _1:27pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : i’m out of funny zingers.  
**Akira** : it was yuuki.  
**Ann** : yuuki?  
**Akira** : mishima.  
**Ann** : OH.  
**Ann** : i thought you two didn’t connect?  
**Akira** : listen, i can still have sex with someone i don’t connect with.  
**Ann** : that’s fair…  
**Akira** : yeah so. just kinda went at it.  
**Akira** : for a first time not bad.  
**Ann** : FIRST?!  
**Akira** : i am a delinquent and a boy ann.  
**Akira** : diving dick first into anything is expected.  
**Ann** : god.  
**Ann** : i don’t need details.  
**Akira** : i wasn’t going to give you any.  
**Akira** : except that at least _**I**_ was fuckng considerate and didn’t mark him up.  
**Akira** : cheeky bitch.  
**Ann** : LOL  
**Akira** : ‘lets not tell anyone because if my parents found out it was you i’d be transferred out so fast…’  
**Akira** : so that being said…  
**Ann** : my lips are sealed.  
**Ann** : if someone else spots it and asks i’ll cover and say it was me.  
**Akira** : ANN!  
**Ann: 💖**  
**Ann** : people think i’m some slutty ditz anyway.  
**Ann** : fuck them.  
**Akira** : are you and shiho dating yet?  
**Ann** : … maybe.  
**Akira** : tell shiho i have completely innocent intentions with you.  
**Ann** : oh she knows you’re gay af.  
**Akira** : thank fuck.  
**Akira** : did you want to hang today?  
**Ann** : sure! i wanna get some crepes!  
**Akira** : fuck yes. crepe time.  
**Ann** : 😎  
**Akira** : 😎  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** TORANOSUKE YOSHIDA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _4:47pm: **Yoshida** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yoshida** : DO YOU HAVE TIME TONIGHT FOR A SPEECH?  
**Akira** : I will proudly be your sign holder sir.  
**Yoshida** : THANK YOU. I’LL MEET YOU IN THE USUAL PLACE.  
**Akira** : On my way.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Monday came and Akira was on his way home for another study jam but before he could make it to the train he ran into Kasumi at the station. It was one of the rare times Kasumi didn’t have club practice. Perhaps because of exams? 

“If you have some time right now I’d like to share something with you!” Kasumi pulled Akira out of his thoughts. 

“Sure.” Akira agreed but as she opened her mouth to speak more Akechi came out of nowhere. Akira hadn’t actually spent any time with him since his nightmare and seeing him now was reminding Akira of the phantom feeling of hands all over his body. It also didn’t help that Akira was feeling the guilt of sleeping with Yusuke. Which was stupid and he knew it. Akechi and him weren’t anything near an item but the guilt was still there and it was killing him.

“Oh, Kurusu. Funny running into you here.” Akechi offered a smile to Akira before looking to Kasumi,” And you are…?” 

“It’s been a while, Akechi-san!” Kasumi turned toward him.

“And same to you,” Akechi almost sounded like he was struggling to figure out who was in front of him. She knew his name and now Akira got to watch as Akechi’s pride tried to file through a thousand names for Kasumi’s,” Y-Yoshizawa-san, right?” Akira had to be impressed Akechi remembered, he still clearly sounded like he was guessing. 

“And one hundred points to Akechi. You know one another though?” Akira teased, earning a small look of annoyance from Akechi. Akira needed to try and put the nightmare behind him. It was just a bad dream damn it.

“My father works at a TV station as the director for ‘Good Morning Japan.” Kasumi explained,” I’m amazed you remembered me though!” 

“I make it a policy to remember at least the name of each person I meet,” Akechi slapped on his smug expression once more and Akira had to hold back a laugh,” But yes, I’ve been brought onto the show as a guest a number of times now.” Akira’s first thought looking at Akechi’s face as he spoke about his show appearance was simple, ‘ _Show off.’_

“I didn’t know you two were acquainted as well.” Akechi continued snapping Akira from his thoughts. 

“We do go to the same school.” Akira said,” It shouldn’t be that surprising. But yeah, we’re friends.” 

“He helped me out of a jam before, and now he’s been offering me guidance!” Kasumi explained,” He’s a really great senpai.”

“Helped you out of a jam, huh? I see…” Akechi gave Akira a side eyed look.

“What? Some guy was hitting on her and getting all physical. I just kind of… stepped up.” Akira shrugged as he explained. 

“Nothing to get defensive about, you have quite the habit of saving women from aggressive men don’t you?” Akechi almost sounded teasing,” So, what were you two up to?”

“Huh? Oh! Right. I was about to share some exciting news.” Kasumi was grinning from ear to ear, it must be really good news,” It’s not a secret so I’ll just spill it here! Do you remember how I talked about that summer competition?” Akira nodded,” I was chosen to be our club rep for the meet!” 

“That’s awesome!” Akira clapped,” Congratulations, Yoshizawa-san.”

“Thank you senpai! This is only the start. I’m going to go all the way!”

“If I’m remembering right isn’t Shujin’s gymnastics club considered to be quite prestigious?” Akechi questioned,” To be made the representative is an extremely impressive achievement. How about we have a little celebration for it? I know a nice little cafe.” 

“Oh that would be wonderful!” Kasumi looked rather excited about the idea,” You’re coming right senpai?”

“Sure,” Akira nodded, suspicious of where Akechi wanted to take them.

“You can relax, I don’t mean Leblanc. We’re going to Kichijoji.” Akechi answered Akira’s unspoken question,” Let’s go.”

The cafe was the same one Akechi had brought Akira to before. When they started to place their orders Akira decided on an iced latte and an ice cream crepe,” I didn’t take you as one with a severe sweet tooth?” Akechi raised an eyebrow at Akira. 

“Sometimes there’s just a craving.” Akira shrugged.

“If I remember right, don't you have a sweet tooth yourself Akechi-san? I saw you eating fried sweet bread the other day on TV.” Kasumi spoke up. 

“That’s just a marketing strategy for ratings. That kind of thing is an easy crowd pleaser.” Akechi explained.

“You haven’t actually denied having a sweet tooth.” Akira teased. 

“And I’ll confirm nothing either.” Akechi admitted before their drinks were served and Akira got his crepe to eat.

“I feel lied to.” Akira moped.

“Presenting yourself in a favorable light isn’t that surprising. Look at you.” Akechi motioned at Akira. 

“Me?” 

“Your fake glasses and hair go a long way to make you look unassuming don’t they?” Akechi questioned and Akira felt like he’d just been slapped. How’d Akechi nail him to the wall like that? He hadn’t been around for the fake glasses talk. Shit.

“I’ve been wondering. How do you two know one another?” Kasumi asked.

“We met at the cafe his guardian owns. Though I admit we didn’t start to meet outside of that cafe until after his class visit the set of a TV show I appeared on.” Akechi explained making Kasumi remember what the second years did,” Kurusu and I exchanged our opinions during the shoot and his way of thinking intrigued me. So we started to meet out and about.”

“He likes to pick my brain.” Akira said between bites of his ice cream. 

“I can relate to that! I also look to Kurusu-senpai for advice.” Kasumi smiled toward him.

“What kind of advice does he give you exactly?” Akechi asked, looking rather interested in what Akira could possibly offer to a gymnast. 

“Well, maybe it’s less like advice and more input on how I could go about something. Like, ‘be brave,’ or ‘tone it back’ or something along those lines.” Kasumi explained,” He’s actually done wonders for my self-esteem.” 

“I see, well, in that case let me pick your brain,” Akechi had an almost wicked glint in his eye and Akira worried about what Akechi was about to ask. Please not some kind of advice dance off, Akira just wanted to be chill,” Would you mind if I posed the same question to you that I asked him at the TV station?” Which question was that?

“Shoot!” 

“My question was, What do you think of the Phantom Thieves?” Akechi asked and Akira frowned at him from behind his latte. What the hell was he doing?

“You mean if they were to actually exist?” Kasumi confirmed and when Akechi nodded she continued,” I admit that the assistance of others in need is a truly great act, but I can’t agree with their methods.” 

“I see. Could you explain what you mean?” Akechi pressed a curled finger to his chin. 

“I think in the long run the existence of the Phantom Thieves will not be beneficial to society. Rather than people taking control of their own lives and making their own choices, they would want the Thieves to pick whichever option they think is best. People would become complacent and lazy.” Kasumi explained and Akira felt like shit. She had a point.

“I see.” Akechi hummed,” What do you think of Yoshizawa-san’s opinion?” Akechi directed at Akira.

“She’s not wrong…” Akira said truthfully,” It would be better for people to come to their own conclusions rather than rely on Thieves to make choices for them. However, people who make the choice to put their comfort and goals before others lives should be stopped.” 

“Ah! Senpai are you a fan of the Phantom Thieves?” Kasumi looked surprised. 

“Something like that. I just agree with the idea that rotten people taking advantage of others should face the consequences of those kinds of actions. If the police can’t arrest them for lack of proof then making them confess with their own mouth is a good step to fix things.” Akira crossed his legs.

“I see your point, but who’s to judge if someone is actually guilty?” Kasumi frowned.

“Forgive me for cutting in. I didn’t mean to start a debate, I was just curious.” Akechi spoke up,” Why don’t we change the topic to something lighter?” 

“Sure.” Kasumi nodded all for the topic shift.

They instead began to talk about TV shows Ackechi had been on and what kind of meets Kasumi had been to. Akira didn’t have anything special to add so he mostly listened and asked questions. 

“Oh, I’m sorry I need to get going.” Kasumi said after checking her phone,” My parents will worry if I take too long to get home. Thank you both so much for this.” 

“I wish you the best of luck in your competition.” Akechi grinned as Kasumi stood.

“Thanks! I’ll see you another time Akechi-san, and I’ll see you at school senpai! Bye now.” Kasumi bowed before she left.

“You just had to ask about Thieves’ stuff huh?” Akira commented once Kasumi was well gone. He leaned back in his seat before reaching over to let Morgana poke out of his bag.

“It’s dangerous to us all if you just go off like that you know?” Morgana complained. 

“I was just posing a friendly question.” Akechi picked up his cup to drink,” Really you shouldn’t get so worked up.” 

“I’m not worked up,” Akira pouted.

“You look like you are.” Akechi chuckled,” It’s an interesting expression to see on you.”

“Are you teasing me to see me pout sir?” Akira tried to look like he wasn’t pouting but it just made his face look worse since Akechi laughed at him. 

“Maybe.” Akechi finally said after his giggle,” How about we move this elsewhere?” Akechi stood,” There was somewhere I wanted to take you that Sunday but…” Akechi trailed off not wanting to actually mention the girl dying.

“Sure.” Akira picked up his bag letting Morgana settle before putting it on his shoulder,” Where to?” 

“Just down the street.” Akechi led them to a small hole in the wall with ‘Jazz Jin’ over the top,” Here we are, it’s rather nice despite outside appearances. And I’m a regular so we won’t be bothered by any of my fans.” 

“I have to assume with the name it’s a jazz club right? I didn’t peg you as a jazz fan. Not that I’m complaining.”

“You like jazz, Kurusu?” 

“Yeah, it’s one of the music types I can listen to and study still.” Akira joked and Akechi seemed to find it funny. 

“I’m glad we have something in common in this. Why don’t we head inside?” Akechi motioned for Akira to follow him down the stairs,” They serve non-alcoholic drinks for minors so you’ll be able to get the full experience.” 

“I love experiences.” Akira said and it wasn’t at all a lie,” You really have the best not-a-date ideas for us.” Akira teased as they found a place to sit near the stage,” Sorry Mona you gotta stay down.” Akira apologized before zipping his bag closed.

“You really bring him everywhere don’t you?” Akechi asked, setting his briefcase down. 

“I don’t have the heart to leave him alone all the time, and it helps to have a second person know about what’s going on around me.” Akira answered,” I am… a stupidly busy person.” Akira’s eyes glazed over.

“I do often see you in an odd place or another,” Akechi admitted,” Were you working at the flower shop in the mall?” 

“Yep.” Akira nodded,” I haven’t been back for like a week because right now, flowers, and also exams.” 

“I understand, hanahaki is a truly terrible disease.” Akechi sighed. The conversation took a pause when someone came to take their orders. Once they left Akechi continued,” Do you know about it?” 

“Yeah, and not just because I stayed up until four am looking at it after the aquarium.” Akira waved a hand,” I knew someone who had it.” It was time to pull into Lie-ville, population, Akira Kurusu,” You?”

“My mother had it.” Akechi explained,” or would rather. The only thing of worth I got from my father was the inability to contract it.” Akechi sighed,” I told you before my mother killed herself, correct?” 

“You mentioned it.” Akira nodded.

“I said it that way because she truly loved my father, but he would not return her feelings.” Akechi looked at his hand,” She would get the surgery, but then I existed so she would remember all over again and have to repeat the cycle. In the end she decided she kept falling in love with him after everything because it was meant to be. She chose to suffocate for her love rather than stay alive to raise me.” 

Akira gave Akechi a sad look. Had he seen his mother die like that girl had? There was a long pause as the drinks were delivered at last.

“The only decent thing she did before letting herself die was give me to some relatives.” Akechi answered the question Akira hadn’t voiced. He stirred his staw absentmindedly as he seemed to think on what he wanted to say next,” But having seen that girl die… I can understand why she sent me away. It doesn’t make it any less painful however.” Akira wanted to reach out to take Akechi’s hand to comfort him but decided against it. He didn’t want to make the conversation awkward. He wanted to have Akechi trust him,” I just wish that in the end she would have been able to hear she was loved.” 

“You’ve got a kind heart, Akechi.” Akira offered with a smile. Akechi flinched at those words before shooting a surprised stare at Akira,” What?” There was a long drag where Akechi didn’t speak, a singer for the evening walked onto the stage and started to sing a slow jazz song as Akira waited for Akechi to say something.

“I’ve just… never thought of myself as anyone at all kind.” Akechi admitted,” When I heard about the possibility of Phantom Thieves actually existing I have to admit that my interest was piqued. Phantom Thieves in my lifetime? It was too good to be true. But then it wasn’t how you expect them to be from comics or movies, you have a powerful sense of justice.” Akechi looked at Akira,” With that in mind I plan to go as far as I can with you. So please allow me by your side.”

Akira could feel his face threatening to heat up at Akechi’s words. Why did he have to be like this? It was enough to make him think they could work out and the stray thought brought the familiar tickle of a cough to the back of his throat. Akira picked up his cup to take a long drink and fight back the attack before he responded to Akechi,” You’ll do us the favor of keeping us in line then, right? Make sure we don’t cross a line we shouldn’t.”

“I’ll make that deal.” Akechi grinned before settling back in his seat to just listen to the woman singing. Akira stared at him wondering if he should chance things, but then a flash of the girl dying came to him. There was nothing Akira wanted less than to force anyone to watch him die. Akechi had already dealt with death in his life and Akira didn’t want to add to it. Even if Akechi was apparently the type to tell him a pretty lie to lull him into the dark. The thought was appealing, choking to death at the end, but Akira still got to hear he was loved. He sort of wished for such an easy go.

“I’ll be back. Bathroom.” Akira said as he stood up. Once he actually found the bathroom, a single person use room, he put the seat down and sat to let the cough that had been threatening him come up. It was worse than others before it and after a minute petals finally came up, more than before with more pollen stems. He looked over the red petals and let out a sigh. This was going to kill him one day.

Akira let out a sigh as he stood to flush the petals then wash his hands before returning to Akechi. He could at least enjoy their time together now.

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:06pm: **potato masher** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**potato masher:** EXAMS ARE DONE  
**potato masher** : ITS TIME TO CELEBRATE  
**The Juicer:** I suppose it is.  
**The Juicer** : What should we do?  
**cake pan:** there’s going to be a fireworks show on monday!  
**cake pan** : we should go to that!  
**sponge boy** : oh that should be fun.  
**little spoon:** I can wear my yukata.  
**sponge boy** : maybe i should buy one…  
**little spoon** : I’m sure you would look amazing in traditional clothes.  
**sponge boy** : (*´∀`*)  
**Kitchen Sink** : I believe I have one as well.  
**sponge boy:** you’re going to come with?  
**Kitchen Sink:** I don’t see why not.  
**sponge boy** : (ﾉ^ヮ^)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧  
**cake pan:** all of us celebrating together is great!  
**The Juicer** : So we’re going to all wear yukata?  
**potato masher** : nah  
**potato masher:** dont got one  
**potato masher** : and i dont have the money for one  
**sponge boy** : come shopping with me ryuji  
**sponge boy:** we’ll vogue in the store and try on yukata.  
**sponge boy:** and if you play your cards right, the cards being that you come shopping with me, i will buy you a yukata.  
**potato masher:** i dont really need one bro  
**sponge boy** : bro i need to see you in one.  
**cake pan:** feral akira’s back out to play.  
**sponge boy** : i’m working with 90% feral energy at all times.  
**potato masher:** bro  
**sponge boy** : ryuji please. i am starved. i need to see men in yukata.  
**potato maher** : fine  
**sponge boy:** thank you.  
**little spoon** : I don’t need to buy one but I could offer my aesthetic eye.  
**sponge boy:** wonderful.  
**sponge boy** : let’s head out tomorrow after school and get us some sexy yukata.  
**sponge boy:** meet at the walkway hideout before we go shopping?  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Once the school bell rang Akira and Ryuji waited for Yusuke at the walkway. However Yusuke was not the first person to arrive. Akira looked up to catch sight of Akechi waving at him. Once he was close enough he spoke,” I’m not intruding. I was just walking through the area and spotted you.” 

“No worries. We could always use more models.” Akira teased. 

“Do you just have a compulsion to ‘say hi’ when you see Akira or…?” Ryuji questioned earning a light punch from Akira,” What? That was the same line he fed us when he ended up in the Metaverse.” 

“I was just trying to be friendly.” Akechi shook his head,” Though if I hadn’t I wouldn’t have ended up in cahoots with you so it’s hard to tell if it’s a good thing or not.” 

“Ignore him. Ryuji’s just upset because his mom wants photos.” Akira ratted Ryuji out. 

“Bro!” Ryuji cried before spotting Yusuke,” Look Yusuke’s here. We can split.”

“I have an interview I have to be heading to anyway.” Akechi smiled,” Enjoy shopping, send me some photos of yukata you think would suit me?” Akechi requested from Akira.

“Uh, yeah I can do that.” Akira blinked in confusion, did Akechi not have one? If he didn’t have an interview Akira would have dragged him along as well. With another wave Akechi left nodding to Yusuke as he passed him by,” You ready?” 

“I’d thought Akechi-san was going to join us?” Yusuke questioned. 

“Nah, he’s got celebrity work. Just us three.” Akira gave a thumbs up.

“Akira, dude, you gotta stop thirsting over literally every guy. Akechi sucks.” Ryuji rolled his eyes,” Date Yusuke or literally any other dude.” Ryuji motioned at Yusuke who blushed at the suggestion,” Or, don’t date, just get laid and relax.” Yusuke turned redder at this and turned his face away from Ryuji.

“I’ve been pent up for too many years for ‘just getting laid’ to make me relax.” Akira shook his head leading the way to the train to head to Harajuku,” And while Yusuke would make a great boyfriend--,” Akira spoke with a raised hand and paused. He didn’t have a good excuse. This wasn’t great.

“I’m seeing someone.” Yusuke announced and Akira had to stare at him. Was he lying or was the other night hime cheating? Or maybe this was someone Yusuke decided to date to forget Akira?

“For real?!” Ryuji jumped between Yusuke and Akira,” Who?! Are they from Kosei? How long? Are they hot? Do they have any hot friends?” 

“And you said I’m thirsty.” Akira rolled his eyes at Ryuji’s questions. 

“I’m not telling you who, they go to Kosei, and… since last week.” Yusuke looked from Ryuji to Akira and Akira just could not make out the look on his face. Was he actually with someone as a rebound or was he lying? “The rest I can’t help you with. You’ll have to find a significant other on your own.” 

“Yusuke why can’t you be a bro and help a bro out?!” Ryuji cried.

“If you’re so insistent on getting laid and that Akira should get laid why don’t you two do that?” Yusuke suggested. 

“Nah.” Ryuji waved a hand,” Listen, you got your bros then you got your bae and it just doesn't vibe like that. Not with me anyway.” 

“What I’m hearing is Ryuji is the type to fuck someone he’s not familiar with. How very dude of you.” Akira hummed in thought. 

“What?” Ryuji sounded very offended now.

“I personally like to keep my options open with people I’ve spent at least a few weeks getting to know, like Iwai. Wow that guy is fuckin’ ripped.” Akira stared into a middle distance down the train as he thought about it. 

“Bro, I already know you’re into older dudes, you kept on about Maruki for like an hour after he started.” Ryuji said dryly,” Then you said if Hiruta looked less like a tool he’d be hot enough too.” 

“It’s not just older guys!” Akira flushed.

“Oh right, you go all puppy eyed every time Akechi walks into a room.” Ryuji rolled his eyes. 

“I do not.” Akira pouted. 

“Yeah you do,” Ryuji countered,” You know, maybe you should get it out of your system. Akechi looks like he needs to have the stick in his ass surgically removed. Maybe fooling around will get it out.” 

“You are sex obsessed.” Yusuke shook his head. 

“I’m a normal healthy boy!” Ryuji shouted.

“What kind of guys are you into anyway? You said you were bi right?” Akira wanted to change this conversation from sex very badly.

“Eh. Not fuckin’ Akechi” Ryuji thought about it,” Ok I know he turned into a cop but Akihiko Sanada when he was boxing is my type.” 

“Who?” Akira questioned before he had to take out his phone to look it up,” You’re giving me shit about olding guys and he’s older. He doesn’t look bad though… Why does he have a gigantic scar?” 

“Get this, dude boxed a bear! That was my bisexual awakening.” Ryuji admitted,” I apologized to my mom the next day and she laughed and said it was fine as long as I’m happy.”

“Aww, Ryuji I love your mom.” Akira put his phone away,” That’s your awakening though, what is your actual type?” 

The conversation for the rest of the train ride revolved around figuring out Ryuji’s type. When they finally got to a shop for yukata Akira gave Ryuji a few to go try on before he tried any himself. Once he and Yusuke were alone he glanced at the artist,” So… you started dating?” 

“That was a lie to get Ryuji to back off.” Yusuke answered after a few seconds. 

“You know if you started to date someone that would be fine too. I’m not going to get mad.” Akira nudged Yusuke,” We kind of already decided not to.”

“I realize that.” Yusuke nodded and they were silent for a while longer, the sound of Ryuji struggling with his yukata the only thing coming through the curtain,” It might take me a while to really move on.”

“I get it.” Akira nodded,” I’ll always hold you in a special regard too. I mean… you only lose your virginity once.” Akira had to tease to try lightening the mood. It worked some too as Yusuke’s lips curved up into a smirk,” We’re still friends right? Awkward pals?” 

“Of course.” Yusuke looked to Akira,” I wouldn’t leave your side even if you told me to. Set aside my feelings, we’re Phantom Thieves and I plan to carry that title with me until the day I die.” 

“God you are so dramatic. I love it.” Akira laughed before Ryuji opened the curtain to come out,” Lookin’ good Ryuji. Maybe show a little more chest?” 

“Perv.” Ryuji rolled his eyes before looking down at his chest to pull the yukata open a little,” That actually makes it more comfortable… shut up!” Ryuji pointed as Akira opened his mouth making him and Yusuke laugh. In the end Akira bought Ryuji a yellow and orange checkered yukata, Akira got a black one with red ravens along the trim and arms, while Yusuke bought a fan to go with the one he owned. 

During their shopping Akira came across two he thought might fit Akechi, a white one with goldenrod stripes and another tan with black geometric patterns. Akira decided the best way to show them was to try them on and send photos of himself modeling them.

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _6:54pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : i found two i think would look good on you.  


**Akira has shared a photo. (2)**

**Akira** : and i got this one.  


**Akira has shared a photo.**

**Goro** : Hm. I think the white one suits me.  
**Goro** : The one you picked for yourself is fitting. What’s the pattern?  
**Akira** : birds...  
**Goro** : what kind?  
**Akira** : you’re going to have to find out at the festival. ;3  
**Goro** : Where did you go?  
**Akira** : yutaka shop in harajuku.  
**Goro** : I’ll have to look tomorrow.  
**Akira** : do you want company?  
**Goro** : No that’s alright. I’ll just be buying it.  
**Akira** : you’re not going to make sure it fits first? or looks good?  
**Goro** : It fit you just fine and we’re similar enough so it should fit and look just fine.  
**Goro** : You look nice in it after all.  
**Akira** : you flatter me.  
**Goro** : I’m just being honest.  
**Goro** : At any rate, I’ll see you at the festival. Where are we meeting again?  
**Akira** : Shibuya station.  
**Goro** : Okay. Have a good night.  
**Akira** : night.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ everything but the kitchen sink _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _11:54pm: **potato masher** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**potato masher** : man  
**potato masher:** this sucks!  
**potato masher:** fuckin rain ruining the night  
**sponge boy:** more importantly did anyone see the news?  
**cake pan:** ???  
**sponge boy:** they keep replying on every station please turn on a tv if you can.  
**Kitchen Sink:** This is troubling.  
**potato masher** : the fuck  
**cake pan** : hey isn’t this really serious?  
**The Juicer** : I think we need to spend tomorrow gathering intel.  
**little spoon** : What is going on? I can’t look.  
**sponge boy** : we’ve been targeted by an international hacktivist group.  
**sponge boy** : they said we have false justice and they’re the ones with true justice.  
**potato masher** : this fucking sucks!  
**Kitchen Sink:** It’s rather late now. Let’s take tomorrow to look for information then talk about a plan of action.  
**Kitchen Sink** : This could be more trouble than we can handle.  
**Kitchen Sink** : I just received a call from the TV station. They want me to come in tomorrow for my thoughts on the Medjed threat.  
**sponge boy:** go.  
**sponge boy:** you have to keep up your good boy detective appearance.  
**sponge boy:** everyone else fan out and get information.  
**The Juicer:** Right.  
**potato masher:** akira we should talk to mishima  
**sponge boy:** yuuki? Why?  
**potato masher:** he runs the phansite and stuff right?  
**potato masher:** maybe hes got some info on medgec  
**potato masher:** medject*  
**potato masher:** FUCK  
**sponge boy:** medjed*  
**potato masher** : yeah  
**sponge boy:** sure. we’ll see what he knows.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **“You like jazz, Kurusu?”** litreally the stupidest meme line from this chapter and akechi didn't even mean it to be one. this is where i start to really like, kinda take them through their confidant ranks like in royal. 
> 
> the most important thing to take away here is me having akechi's mom be a hanahaki victim. it makes his rage about the guy last chapter more understandable since someone pointed it out. i got you guys! i did have to like, go back after 20+ chapters to make sure i didn't fridge yusuke after their sex and after adding in one other scene i feel pretty good about the pacing i allowed for them. yusuke loves the fuck out of akira but he backs off to give akechi and him more space.
> 
> clearly after having akechi join i've started to like, write more detail about the chapters and like, what happens between palaces. so i've got like four chapters leading up to futaba's palace so spoiler on that. it's all important i promise. i love everyone who reads this. thank you so much.
> 
> preview:  
>  _“Let’s put to a vote then.” Akechi looked at Akira,” This is a unanimous group, if one of us doesn’t like this idea we won’t do it. Right?”_
> 
> _“The Phantom Thieves are, yes, but you made a point that you’re **not** one of us haven’t you? You’re just a consultant.” Akira bit back feeling a bit irritated with Akechi’s resistance to even try at this point. They needed to at least listen and Akechi was being a little bitch about it._
> 
> _“Really? That’s the road you’re going to take with this?” Akechi’s eyes narrowed,” Fine. You figure it out.” Akechi stood up and gathered his things,” When you do you’ll just have to let me know how many cuffs I should bring next time.”_  
> 


	11. *hacker voice* i'm in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alibaba makes contact with the phantom thieves to provide a challenge to medjed if they can change futaba's heart. opinions on how to go forward cause tempers to flare but there are just more important things to deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy saturday! i've been having a hell of a time concentrating on writing but here's a chapter. :D

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _12:04pm: **cake pan** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**cake pan** : ryuji… your test scores…  
**potato masher** : WE WERE BUSY  
**sponge boy:** we talked to yuuki.  
**sponge boy** : when medjed started they worked as ‘hackers of justice,’ his words not mine, but at present they only look out for their own interests.  
**sponge boy** : it’s a collection of people so it’s not just one target which is a bit of a problem.  
**potato masher** : he didnt really have all that much info for us  
**potato masher:** no idea who was in it to even start looking  
**Kitchen Sink** : That’s to be expected. They are an anonymous group.  
**sponge boy:** how goes TV land?  
**Kitchen Sink** : A few people are wound up tight over the Medjed threat.  
**Kitchen Sink** : I’ve heard concerns about what would happen if the Phantom Thieves don’t turn themselves in.  
**sponge boy** : you know what would piss them off?  
**sponge boy** : if before their deadline we just have you arrest us.  
**sponge boy** : ‘hahaha. you didn’t do shit. detective hot stuff did. bitches.’  
**Kitchen Sink** : I feel like you just want me to put you in handcuffs.  
**sponge boy:** cuff me daddy.  
**cake pan** : asdkl;ahsdgh AKIRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
**potato masher** : i just witnessed what that sounds like irl  
**potato masher:** i dont think people are supposed to make that kind of sound  
**The Juicer:** Moving on, my sister didn’t have anything to say about Medjed. She doesn’t specialize in cybercrimes so it’s not a surprise but it didn’t hurt to ask.  
**potato masher** : so we got no info  
**little spoon:** This might be too elusive an opponent for us.  
**Kitchen Sink** : We need more information. I’ll get in touch with my contacts and find out what I can.  
**Kitchen Sink:** I should be able to come by the cafe tonight to share what I find out.  
**Kitchen Sink:** I’ll be sure to bring handcuffs for you, Kurusu.  
**cake pan:** i think he died.  
**potato masher:** he put his head in his arms after the daddy comment and has been having a fit for like three minutes  
**cake pan** : he’s def choking on his own spit.  
**The Juicer:** Where are you three?  
**cake pan:** mona’s with us too!  
**sponge boy** : tttttttttttttttttttttttt  
**potato masher** : that was mona  
**The Juicer** : Where are you four?  
**potato masher** : the roof  
**The Juicer** : You shouldn’t be up there. :|  
**potato masher** : fight the power makoto  
**cake pan** : bring up a bottle of water.  
**cake pan** : akira is dying.  
**The Juicer** : … fine. I’ll be right up.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ YUSUKE KITAGAWA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _12:15pm: **Yusuke** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yusuke** : Are you alright?  
**Yusuke** : Ann said you were choking.  
**Akira** : i’m perfect.  
**Yusuke** : …  
**Akira** : mona covered for me, hid the petals that came out.  
**Yusuke** : Let me know if I can help.  
**Akira** : you’re kind of at another school yusuke.  
**Yusuke** : I know…  
**Akira** : thank you tho.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

That night Akechi came to the cafe as he promised. Akira was already making him a cup of coffee when he arrived,” It’s like you sensed me coming.” 

“I’ve learned what time you tend to show up when you say you will.” Akira took the cup and passed it to Akechi,” Boss is out for a smoke. Did you find out anything?” 

“Not much. Mostly the same information you did. When the group started they would find shady business deals and out them to the public. In a way they’re much like the Phantom Thieves, at least until recently and I mean in the last year, they held an entire company’s trade information hostage in exchange for cash. Once they were paid they still released the information to the public which bankrupted the company after everything was over.” Akechi explained,” Whoever this Medjed is, I feel fairly confident that they’re not the same one who started it.”

Akira frowned at that. So there was someone else who had founded Medjed and others latched to the name?

Akira’s phone buzzed as he thought on this information. However as he looked at his phone he grew confused, his expression catching Akechi’s attention,” What’s wrong?” 

“Nice to meet you, the detective is right.” Akira read outloud,” I am the one they call Alibaba and I was once the founder of Medjed. I want to ask you something before I continue,” Akechi leaned closed looking down to Akira’s phone as the leader read the words coming to his phone” You’re a phantom thief, aren’t you? Both of you? If you are, can you really steal hearts? If so, there is someone whose heart I would like you to steal.” 

“I don’t like this.” Akechi looked toward the door worried about Sojiro coming back now. 

“I’m not asking for charity. I want to make a deal with you. You’re looking into info on Medjed right? I can give you whatever you want on them if you can successfully change this person’s heart. Or, I can do better and take care of them for you instead.” Akira was so focused on the screen he didn’t hear the bell. His attention only broke from what he was reading when Akechi reached across the counter to put his hand over Akira’s to block the screen.

“Enough.” Akechi hissed then pulled back with a laugh,” That’s enough on that commercial I had to shoot. It’s still rather embarrassing for me!” Akechi said as jokingly as he could.

Sojiro paused at the door looking between the two of them. His eyes shifted back and forth between them a few times before he let out a sigh and moved to remove his hat,” Why don’t you take a break for the night?” Sojiro said to Akira once he was around the side of the counter,” I’ll finish up.” 

“Uh, sure?” Akira wasn’t sure what was up but Akira wouldn’t miss on the chance to keep reading what ‘Alibaba’ was sending him. Akira took his apron off then moved around to sit at Akechi’s side to show him the screen as well.

_** ALIBABA ░▀█▀▒██▀ ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _6:14pm: **ALIBABA** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**ALIBABA** :Nice to meet you, the detective is right.  
**ALIBABA** : I am the one they call Alibaba and I was once the founder of Medjed. I want to ask you something before I continue.  
**ALIBABA** : You’re a phantom thief, aren’t you?  
**ALIBABA** : Both of you?  
**ALIBABA** : If you are, can you really steal hearts?  
**ALIBABA** : If so there is someone whose heart I would like you to steal.  
**ALIBABA** :I’m not asking for charity. I want to make a deal with you.  
**ALIBABA** :You’re looking into info on Medjed right? I can give you whatever you want on them if you can successfully change this person’s heart.  
**ALIBABA** : Or, I can do better and take care of them for you instead.  
**ALIBABA** : I can track down their accounts just like I did with yours.  
**ALIBABA** : But this is all I can do to prove myself at the moment.  
**ALIBABA** : I’ve prepared the necessary tool on my end.  
**ALIBABA** : Look forward to it.  


Akira exchanged a look with Akechi before sending a message back to the account to question who ‘Alibaba’ really was but he was met with an error message about no account with that name existing.

“What the fuck…?” Akira muttered. 

“This could be dangerous.” Akechi kept his voice low as he scrolled Akira’s phone to read the messages one more time then sat back. He was in deep thought as Akira tried to send another message to no avail. There was no way to ask what the hell Alibaba wanted. 

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _6:25pm: **Kitchen Sink** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Kitchen Sink:** We need to meet up tomorrow.  
**cake pan** : did you get good info?  
**Kitchen Sink** : Kurusu just received messages from someone claiming to be the original Medjed.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Considering they texted him I don’t feel comfortable talking about this over chat.  
**Kitchen Sink** : We need to meet in person.  
**Kitchen Sink** : And shut off phones when we talk.  
**sponge boy** : Akechi is right. They knew we were Phantom Thieves.  
**sponge boy** : We meet at the hideout first thing after school.  
**potato masher** : got it  
**little spoon** : I’ll be there.  
**The Juicer** : Will turning our phones off be enough.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Unless you want to smash them, it’ll have to do.  
**The Juicer** : That’s fair. Alright, we’ll meet tomorrow.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akechi put his phone away once they were settled on meeting and Akira felt suddenly very uncertain about how things were going to go. Somehow Medjed hadn’t really felt like a real threat. Now there was one in his phone and probably reading his accounts. Shit, what could they find out? What did he write to people?

“I’m… really tired of getting blackmailed.” Akira frowned deeply at his phone before pocketing it.

“You’re in a position where it happens a lot.” Akechi tried to explain but understood Akira’s concern,” For now we’ll just have to wait until tomorrow.” 

“Yeah.” 

_____________________________________________________________________

“Phones off?” Akechi looked around the group holding Akira’s in his hand,” Okay, first we’ll have you look at his messages before shutting his off.” Akechi passed Akira’s phone to Makoto and let it circle around,” Obviously we’re being watched, or from the way the messages are shaped, at least listened to.” 

“How?!” Ann looked horrified as she took Akira’s phone next.

“It’s possible our chat logs have been traced.” Akechi offered an answer,” I admit I don’t know how easy it would be to do but it’s not impossible. As for the listening aspect, there are technological horror stories all over the world of people listening to others via microphones on phones and computers.”

“Ugh that’s so creepy,” Ann passed the phone to Yusuke,” You guys couldn’t ask them any questions?” 

“There’s an error when I tried to reply. It’s like the other person just doesn’t exist. So it’s probably that the person doesn’t want us to talk unless they’re ready to.” Akira explained his thoughts on it,” We might just end up being one way the whole time.”

“How is that even possible?” Ryuji took the phone next.

“I don’t think any of us are proficient enough in tech to answer that.” Akechi shook his head.

“If this person will help us take down Medjed shouldn’t we try?” Ryuji rolled his shoulder looking at Akira’s phone for a moment but not really reading it.

“We don’t know whose heart they want us to change, or if that person really deserves it.” Akechi frowned,” I was under the impression you wanted to change the hearts of criminals? What if they want us to do it to an innocent girl?” 

“That’s just weird.” Ryuji pulled a face of disgust.

“Maybe, but a change of heart isn’t just forcing a confession of crimes. It’s a change of cognition. We could be told to change her heart so she’ll be a placid plaything to some monster.” Akechi looked irritated. While Akechi had a point Akira felt like he was jumping to conclusions too far out. So far they had told the shadows what to do, and there was no way they would let something like that happen.

“This is just hypothetical, relax.” Akira stood with his hands on the table. He felt like maybe this would disperse the tension in the air and he’d get everyone’s attention,” I think for now we should at least listen to them. _**IF**_ it turns out the target they give us is the kind our M.O. falls under we’ll do it. Otherwise, we’ll have to find some other way, if we can.”

“Hear me out though,” Ryuji was still just thumbing at Akira’s phone to keep the screen from shutting off,” What if we tried to get this guy on our side? We need a techie! All great Thieves do.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Makoto shook her head,” We don’t know a thing about this hacker, they could be stringing us along.” 

“Aw come on, it could be just the boost we need!” Ryuji insisted before Yusuke took Akira’s phone. 

“Even if Alibaba turns out to be a criminal?” Yusuke actually sounded upset at the suggestion,” I will not be party to helping anyone of that sort.” Yusuke turned off Akira’s phone then put it face down.

“Agreed, we don’t need to worry about what’s ‘cool and hip’ so much as what’s going to be safe.” Akechi spoke up next,” I think as a group we need to decide right here and now what we want to do. Then leave it at that.” 

“Hold on, I half agree with Ryuji,” Akira spoke,” We need to at least hear Alibaba out. If the person they want us to change the heart of is a criminal then it works in our favor either way.” 

“And if it’s just an innocent person?” Akechi shot Akira an irritated look. 

“Well, did you bring enough handcuffs for everyone today?” Akira shot back. 

“So you’d give up?” Akechi sneered. 

“Unless you can pull a computer genius out of your ass we don’t have a lot of options.” Akira folded his arms. 

“Let’s put to a vote then.” Akechi looked at Akira,” This is a unanimous group, if one of us doesn’t like this idea we won’t do it. Right?” 

“The Phantom Thieves are, yes, but you made a point that you’re **not** one of us haven’t you? You’re just a consultant.” Akira bit back feeling a bit irritated with Akechi’s resistance to even try at this point. They needed to at least listen and Akechi was being a little bitch about it.

“Really? That’s the road you’re going to take with this?” Akechi’s eyes narrowed,” Fine. You figure it out.” Akechi stood up and gathered his things,” When you do you’ll just have to let me know how many cuffs I should bring next time.” 

Akechi abruptly left with the party sitting around the table looking rather uncomfortable now. Akira reached to pinch the bridge of his nose under his glasses before he spoke next,” All those in favor of at least _listening_ to Alibaba raise your hand.” Slowly, one by one each of the Thieves rose their hands,” And opposed?” Akira looked around once more then nodded when no hands or paws went up,” Okay. We’ll turn phones back on and wait for a message from them.” 

“It’s getting late, we should probably find somewhere we can wait and hide for long hours.” Ann spoke. 

“Let’s head to Leblanc.” Akira took his phone from Yusuke to turn it on then began to gather his things to lead the group back home.

Upon walking into the shop Sojiro was reading the mail. He didn’t realize they had come in until the door finally closed behind Ryuji,” Oh! Well this is a crowd, what’s going on?” 

“We were hoping we could plan our summer out if you don’t mind!” Ann answered brightly, she must have been thinking of that lie all the way over.

“Huh, alright, who’s this new face though?” Sojiro questioned looking at Makoto who introduced herself. He seemed to grow concerned at her name but shook his head,” I’ll get out of you kids’ way.” Sojiro gathered up his letter to put it away,” By the way some mail came for you today.” Sojiro pulled around a square flat package with an envelope on top.

“Oh.” Akira took the package and feeling it in his hands he knew it was the sweater his brother had said he would send him. He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face at the thought of it,” Thanks.” 

“Alright, I’ll be heading out. Lock up the shop when you’re done.” Sojiro nodded then got his things together and left.

After a news report of Medjed claiming victory Ryuji’s attention was on Akira’s mail,” So, got a sweetheart back home sending you good stuff?” 

“Yep.” Akira tore open the bag with the sweater. He pulled it out and unfolded it. It was just a plain blue thing but he missed it,” My favorite sweater,” Akira explained then dug around a bit more. There was the keychain knit toy, a black cat, from Tatsumi-san and a few small notes.

“What a cute little mascot!” Ann leaned forward across the table.

“Yeah.” Akira smiled at it before putting it in his pocket for later he then read the notes.

_Hey kid,_

_Better get your ass home in one piece. The shop needs you._

_Kanji Tastumi_

_Aki,_

_Tatsumi-san said he’d let you live with him when your probation is up so come home soon! I love you lots and I’ll see you soon!_

_RenRen_

Akira kept these notes to himself and instead turned his attention to the remaining letter. He looked it over expecting maybe something longer from his brother but when he didn’t even find a stamp he grew concerned. As soon as he flipped the envelope open Akira caught the sight of red and once he removed it he knew without a doubt this was a calling card.

The group around the table exchanged concerns about the card but agreed there was nothing to do but wait until Alibaba contacted them. An hour went by before the shop door opened again. All eyes turned back to look at Akechi walking in. He still looked upset, but he was there which was a surprise to Akira. 

“Still no word, we did get this.” Akira picked up the card to wave it around.

Akechi’s expression turned from upset irritation to curious confusion. He moved across the room to look at the card in Akira’s hands,” Has anyone else touched this yet?” Akechi asked. 

“No?” Akira answered as Akechi put his briefcase on the counter behind Ryuji to take out his gloves to put them on. Once they were on Akechi took the card to inspect it,” I can get fingerprints checked.” 

“To find out who Alibaba is?” Akira questioned but as he did his phone buzzed. 

Everyone held their breath as Akira checked his phone but it was just Mishima buzzing about the Phan-Site taking off. They each let out a sigh then continued to wait around until it became too late to stay any longer. Akechi was the last to leave. He paused to face Akira with his hand on the door,” I apologize for my actions earlier.” Akechi said. 

“I should be the one saying sorry. I got your point, just… I still don’t think listening is bad.” Akira played with his bangs,” If more people just listened I think things would go better.” 

“Right.” Akechi nodded,” We’ll listen and find out the truth.” 

“Thank you.” Akira smiled,” I’ll treat you to a coffee tomorrow?” 

“Make it a double.” Akechi smirked before leaving.

_________________________________________________________________

The following day came with Akira going to school as normal. He kept his phone on hand and jumped nearly any time it buzzed. Ryuji kept messaging him and even Akechi checked in for any contact from Alibaba. It was just after lunch when Alibaba did finally contact Akira again.

_** ALIBABA ░▀█▀▒██▀ ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _1:36pm: **ALIBABA** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**ALIBABA** : Good day.  
**Akira** : Good day to you too.  
**ALIBABA** : Ah, you responded today.  
**ALIBABA** : I’ll say again that I am Alibaba.  
**ALIBABA** : You are the leader of the Phantom Thieves, correct?  
**Akira** : That’s right.  
**ALIBABA** : Good. Honesty is something I appreciate.  
**ALIBABA** : I assume you received the calling card?  
**Akira** : So that was you.  
**ALIBABA** : Of course.  
**ALIBABA** : Are you at school right now?  
**Akira** : I’m in class, yeah.  
**ALIBABA** : I didn’t think you would be such a diligent student.  
**ALIBABA** : Looking at your test scores though… I suppose it makes sense.  
**Akira** : Stop nosing into my life.  
**ALIBABA** : It doesn’t matter. At any rate, I prepared the calling card for you. When will you steal it?  
**Akira** : Steal what?  
**ALIBABA** : The heart, of course.  
**ALIBABA** : Aren’t you able to steal a heart as long as you have the calling card?  
**Akira** : That’s not how it works. I need a name.  
**ALIBABA** : So you can’t steal a heart without a name?  
**ALIBABA** : I suppose previous cards had names on them.  
**ALIBABA** : This is a problem.  
**ALIBABA** : Give me a moment to think.  
**ALIBABA** : Hm.  
**ALIBABA** : Okay I’ll tell you, their name is  
**ALIBABA** : Futaba Sakura.  
**ALIBABA** : Now that I’ve given you what you want I’ll be counting on you to change their heart.  
**ALIBABA** : Failure to do this will result in my exposing your name to the police and the identity of the Thieves to the world.  
**ALIBABA** : And do not think Goro Akechi can get out of this free.  
**ALIBABA** : He’ll go down just like the rest of you.  
**ALIBABA** : I have proof of his willing involvement.  
**Akira** : Who is Futaba Sakura? < message failed to send. >  


**No User exists by the name.**

**_{The chat thread has been closed.}_ **

“Shit.” Akira muttered, tapping his phone to try and resend the message but it wouldn’t go. Morgana was asking Akira about what happened when a piece of chalk zoomed across the room to peg Akira right on the forehead,” Ow!” He reached up to rub the spot. 

“Pay attention!” Ushimaru snapped at Akira then continued to teach.

Akira clenched his teeth before he put his phone away to wait until after school to call a meeting. Once class was over he caught Ann then sent a message to the group to gather at the park. The last to arrive was Akechi who carried with him a troubled look.

“I got word back from Alibaba.” Akira began then passed his phone around to show everyone. Once everyone had a chance to read the message Akira put his phone away again.

“We’re going to get reported if we don’t do what they want?” Ryuji hissed. 

“I’m curious what proof they have on me…” Akechi muttered,” Though I suppose if they’re recording any of our conversations then that might be incriminating enough for some.”

“Still, who is Futaba Sakura?” Ann questioned,” It’s familiar…” 

“Futaba Sakura is adopted daughter and ward to Sojiro Sakura.” Akechi answered while opening his briefcase,” The card delivered to the cafe the other day had her prints on it.” 

“Her prints are in the system?” Akira questioned. 

“Yes.” Akechi took out the card and put in back on the table,” Two years ago her mother died in a car accident and it was thought that Futaba Sakura pushed her mother into the road. Later it was found that Wakaba Ishiki died by suiside rather than murder, though the note still blamed Futaba.”

“F-fuck.” Ryuji’s face paled.

“It really pays to have a detective on our side here.” Akira mused, he had no idea if they would have been able to get even half that information without him.

“So Alibaba wants us to change Futaba’s heart… but, her prints are on the card?” Ann questioned.

“Yeah that’s weird right?” Ryuji was stumped. 

“Alibaba _**is**_ Futaba.” Akira and Akechi answered at once.

“For real?!” Ryuji basically shouted,” So, have you at least met her then?” Ryuji directed at Akira.

“No. I didn’t even know Boss had anyone else. I just thought he was a cranky lonely old man.” Akira admitted.

“Dude, how laid-back are you?! You’ve been living there for months! Shouldn’t you have at least been introduced?” Ryuji sounded completely exasperated which was a new attitude from him.

“Akira’s living situation isn’t easy. I’m not at all surprised he doesn’t know about Futaba.” Yusuke answered,” Boss has somewhere else he actually lives at and that’s probably where Futaba is.” 

“A sound deduction. So do you know where Boss lives?” Akechi looked at Akira.

“Yeah. I think I want to try talking to him first though.” Akira pondered what their choices were.

“Okay, we’ll give you time to talk to him and find out what you can. The rest of us can look into Medjed rumors. I’ll see what else I can turn up about Futaba Sakura before we can make any decisions here.” Akechi laid out his best plan.

“What are your thoughts on Futaba asking us to change her own heart?” Akira questioned. 

“It’s worrying, I have doubts she even knows what it means to change a heart.” Akechi answered,” But looking into the reason why is what’ll determine if we do this or not.” 

“Oh, and not the threat of Medjed hanging over our head or anything.” Ryuji rolled his eyes dramatically,” Can’t wait to go to jail because Mr. Justice over here would rather go to jail than change the heart of someone who asks for it.” 

“It may be difficult for you to understand so I’ll say this as plainly as I can,” Akechi’s voice was low and boarded on sounding condescending,” Changing a heart, even if asked by the person in question, is not to be taken lightly. People would start to abuse it. ‘Please change my heart so I’ll study more’ or ‘please change this person’s heart so they’ll love me’ it’s not a joke. People would want the Thieves to fix all of their problems and then the world would just… stop improving.” Uneasy silence fell over the table, no one knew what to say to that,” However, I do believe there are important exceptions. Thoughts of suicide that a person can’t escape, abuse, neglect of a child, I’ve even considered the repercussions of trying to use it on someone with hanahaki to save them from their own love. But it’s not that black and white. It never is and won’t be, we do have to draw lines though.”

“Akechi has a point.” Akira nodded,” We count on one another to keep us grounded. That’s why we’re unanimous. So, we’re going to learn what is going on with Futaba then talk about what to do from there.” 

“Right!” Ann nodded.

“Got it.” Ryuji agreed.

“Alright team, we’ll end the meeting here and get to work on what we planned.” Akira nodded then stood as the team dispersed. 

When Akira returned home he found Sojiro smoking inside, there wasn’t anyone in the cafe at the time, sooner than better would be the best. When Sojiro asked what was up Akira spoke,” Who is Futaba Sakura?” 

“Where’d you hear that? Did that prosecutor talk to you?” Sojiro said heatedly.

“Prosecutor?” Akira frowned but Sojiro dismissed him.

“I’m closing up for the night. Clean up before you lock up.” Sojiro tossed his apron on the counter and abruptly left.

“Well, apparently we have more problems than just Medjed. What’s a prosecutor doing bothering Sojiro?” Akira looked back as Morgana climbed out of his bag to jump from his shoulder to a chair.

“I don’t know, we can’t safely assume anything but considering you’re still walking free I don’t think it has to do with you.” Morgana shook his head,” You should tell the others.” 

“After I clean up.” Akira moved to put his bag away then returned to clean up as Sojiro asked. Once he was finished Akira sat on his bed to send a text. 

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:54pm: **sponge boy** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**sponge boy** : tried to talk to sojiro.  
**sponge boy** : he asked if i’d heard about futaba from a prosecutor.  
**sponge boy** : then got really defensive and left.  
**little spoon** : I wonder what reason he had for that.  
**The Juicer** : Prosecutor… He did look like he found my name familiar. Maybe my sister?  
**cake pan:** what would your sister want there?  
**The Juicer** : I don’t know.  
**Kitchen Sink** : That’s a bit of a stretch to think it’s Sae-san.  
**Kitchen Sink** : But the fact Boss responded to the name means that we have likely found our target.  
**The Juicer** : Futaba may be our only chance to stop Medjed.  
**The Juicer** : But we have to be careful. If we push too much we might not get any help.  
**little spoon** : I owe a lot to Akira and Boss. I don’t want this to drive a wedge between them.  
**little spoon** : So I think we should wait for Boss to talk.  
**The Juicer** : Let’s wait until Sunday to start checking into Futaba. The semester will be over and we’ll have more time to devote to this.  
**sponge boy** : i’m going to ask around the area tomorrow.  
**sponge boy** : i want to find out what i can.  
**Kitchen Sink:** Don’t be too suspicious.  
**sponge boy** : i am the definition of stealth. did you not see me in kaneshiro’s palace?  
**Kitchen Sink** : I saw your coat get caught on an enemy and you nearly fell face first down the stairs.  
**sponge boy** : that was one mistake.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Your outfit is unsensible.  
**sponge boy** : says mr. white knight.  
**Kitchen Sink:** My outfit doesn’t get caught in elevators.  
**sponge boy** : your face gets caught in an elevator.  
**Kitchen Sink** : Care to try again?  
**sponge boy** : nah i’ll take the loss.  
**The Juicer:** I wanted to make a suggestion about something if everyone is alright with it.  
**The Juicer:** Since we were rained out of our fireworks celebration how about something else?  
**Kitchen Sink** : Doesn’t it seem a bit crass to celebrate with the situation as it is?  
**The Juicer** : Yes, but it’s important to take a step back and look at a situation freshly.  
**The Juicer** : So if we spend one day not thinking about this it won’t harm us.  
**Kitchen Sink** : I see your point.  
**sponge boy** : what’s your recommendation makoto?  
**The Juicer** : My sister gave me a coupon to use at a sushi place in Ginza.  
**The Juicer** : So if we use that and the money we got from the gold briefcase we could eat well.  
**sponge boy** : mona just clawed the shit out of me.  
**sponge boy** : i think he wants the sushi.  
**potato masher** : HELL YEAH  
**little spoon** : I would enjoy some sushi. It has been a long time.  
**The Juicer:** Akechi-kun?  
**Kitchen Sink** : I’ll go as well. You make an amazing point about taking a step back to think. Which day?  
**The Juicer:** Sunday? Celebrate the end of term and everything else at once?  
**cake pan:** yes please!  
**sponge boy:** alright, we’ll do that.  
**sponge boy** : now. this sponge is going to pass out.  
**sponge boy:** night.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ GORO AKECHI _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _9:54pm: **Goro** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Goro** : Before you go, I wanted to apologize again for my actions.  
**Akira** : it’s fine.  
**Goro** : I felt the need to apologize again.  
**Goro** : I may be reading too much into it but you’ve seemed much more hostile with me lately.  
**Akira** : ah.  
**Akira** : i guess i’ve been a bit of a dick lately.  
**Akira** : sorry.  
**Goro** : You don’t have to apologize. I can be irritating to deal with.  
**Akira** : that’s not what is going on.  
**Akira** : i’ve just been trying to buckle down where i can, to be a good leader.  
**Akira** : it’s weird thinking of being your leader.  
**Goro** : You’re doing well and everyone trusts you.  
**Akira** : i don’t mean everyone.  
**Akira** : i specifically mean you.  
**Akira** : goro akechi.  
**Goro** : Oh.  
**Akira** : you’re the first person i met when i came here and i care what you think.  
**Akira** : so i’m trying way too hard to make up for it.  
**Goro** : Kurusu…  
**Goro** : I’m honored you care that much about my opinion.  
**Goro** : I have tomorrow afternoon free. I could help you ask around about Futaba.  
**Akira** : people might be more willing to talk with a detective…  
**Akira** : i’d appreciate the help.  
**Akira** : i have an appointment to go to first though.  
**Goro** : Are you okay?  
**Akira** : general check up. wanna make sure nothing’s been broken in mementos or wherever.  
**Goro** : A smart idea. Your doctor doesn’t question odd injuries?  
**Akira** : she accepts that i’m weird.  
**Akira** : honestly i think she keeps me around because 1) she needs someone to test her drugs 2) she might see me as a pet?  
**Goro** : … Um.  
**Akira** : i made that sound really weird and highly illegal didn’t I?  
**Goro** : A little, but I have to assume anyone you get to help you might be involved in something illegal.  
**Goro** : Just don’t die yet.  
**Akira** : yet.  
**Goro** : We have a criminal to find.  
**Goro** : And Mona’s memories to restore.  
**Akira** : ??????????????  
**Akira** : you’re on the mona train?  
**Goro** : I’ll help you.  
**Akira** : 😀  
**Goro** : I’ll be heading to bed now. See you tomorrow.  
**Goro** : Good night.  
**Akira** : Night!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all thought the unanimous drama was going to be the best part of this chapter but it was actually akira telling akechi to "cuff me daddy" so yeah. lol
> 
> akechi wasn't/is down to work with alibaba bc he was worried that it was some fuckin' creep asking for a gross favor. he's already at shido's beck and call so being someone else's personal slave is not something he's down to have to do as a phantom thief too. the ░▀█▀▒██▀ in alibaba's name was just because i thought it might be kinda neat and because i see futaba as an internet gremlin i decided she thought it was neat too. i'm going to keep name dropping characters from other persona games like akihiko last chapter and kanji in this one. i keep playing with the idea of like, naoto showing up for a minute for the fun of it but i haven't done it yet. it's just entertaining. anywho. thanks kids.
> 
> preview: _“We can’t press Boss for anymore information.” Morgana popped out to sit on a chair,” He’s mad enough that his threat to throw Akira out could be a real promise.”_
> 
> _“Indeed…” Akechi frowned,” I’d offer you a room with me however that wouldn’t solve the problem. Your probation says if you get expelled or thrown out of Boss’ home you’ll go to jail.”_
> 
> _“I’m guessing you looked at my file.” Akira frowned a little over his task of making coffee for them._
> 
> _“I just wanted a few more details. I apologize.” Akechi bowed his head slightly,” It does press upon the importance of making sure we don’t make him too mad.” Akechi looked thoughtful._


	12. family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akechi and akira spend some time seeking out information on futaba. after gaining what info they can the team has sushi, nothing could go wrong ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i keep flip floping on if i want to update on tuesdays or not but i feel like i might be finishing the fic soon from my point of view. so happy tuesday on a wednesday! \o/

The following day Akira met with Akechi at the train station after school. They left to Leblanc together where Akechi waited while Akira went to his appointment with Takemi. She took more blood and took another x-ray to see how his garden was growing.

“So, you’re still back to just spitting up petals right?” Takemi asked, looking at him. 

“Yeah. The attacks haven’t been as frequent so that’s good right?” Akira questioned. 

“It could be. I’m not sure. Each garden is different.” Takemi checked off on her notes,” How much time have you been spending with the source?” 

“Um, I’ve seen him a _lot_ lately, I'll be honest. I’m supposed to see him after this.” Akira admitted playing with his bangs nervously.

“Okay,” Takemi hummed,” My recommendations are hard to make at this point because on one side of things the more time you spend with him then the more likely there is that this can resolve without fatality. I can’t make you confess, no one can, but I’m going to take a chance and encourage you to stay with him. It might start to grow out of control but you’ll be able to make a connection.” 

“Takemi-sensei… I already said I didn’t want to make people watch me die like that.” Akira mumbled. 

“I realize that.” Takemi pet her clipboard down,” I’m just saying that maybe he’ll find that he likes you on his own and heads you off before you, how did you put it, make like a sick cat and hide?” 

“Yeah,” Akira pulled the strands of hair he had been playing with taunt before letting it go to bounce back into place,” I don’t know if he’s even interested in men.” 

“You haven’t asked?” Takemi raised an eyebrow. 

“No.” Akira pouted,” I feel like it might be too pointed to ask.” 

“Just be careful when you try to find out.” Takemi took out a new inhaler to give to him,” You should still let your body rest.” 

“That’s okay.” Akira dismissed her words,” Thanks doc.” Akira stood and started to collect his things. 

“Alright,” Takemi took a step back,” Just be careful okay? Don’t push yourself too hard or your body will break down before the hanahaki can kill you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. See you later.” Akira shoved took a hit off the inhaler before he put it into his bag. Rather than go back home and risk Sojiro putting him to work, Akira sent Akechi a text to let him know that he was ready to sleuth out some info on Futaba.

The two of them started their quest to find information on the elusive hacker. No one knew who she was, the closest they got to something was one man admitting Sojiro bought a lot of food for one man at home. Maybe she was there? The delivery driver didn’t know anything, all the packages that went to the house were for ‘Sojiro’ or that’s what he said at least. 

“What a waste.” Akechi frowned at his notepad,” We got nothing of use besides the _idea_ that Futaba may be at his home.” 

“It might just be time to go back and talk to Boss.” Akira rubbed the back of his neck pausing his action when he spotted Takemi walking toward him,” Heya Takemi-sensei.” He really hoped that she would have gone home the other way but here she was.

“Akira-kun,” Takemi regarded Akira with a nod then looked at Akechi,” a friend?” 

“Yeah,” Akira answered. He didn’t want them to talk,” What’s got you out and about? Heading home?” 

“I was going to stop for some coffee.” Takemi was still staring at Akechi,” I’ve seen you before somewhere.” 

“Very likely, my name is Goro Akechi,” Akechi bowed to Takemi,” I’m often on TV to offer a detective’s insight to cases or anything else the producers can think of to add.” 

“A detective, hm? My name is Tae Takemi. I’m his GP.” Takemi motioned at Akira then stared at Akechi a bit longer before looking at Akira. It made Akira nervous but she didn’t bring anything else up,” Well, you have fun.” Akira was content to just let her leave but as she started to walk away Akechi raised his hand.

“Takemi-sensei, could I bother you a moment?” Akechi called to make her stop,” Do you know anything about Futaba Sakura?” Akira just wanted to mentally shake Akechi for making her talk with them. Just let her leave.

“Sojiro’s daughter? A little, why?” Takemi raised an eyebrow as she turned back to them. 

“We were just wondering, one of our friends spoke about her and wanted to know how she was since Kururu is living with Sakura-san.” Akechi explained,” Kurusu didn’t know anything about her and my detective side couldn’t resist and good mystery.” 

“Is that so?” Takemi didn’t look convinced but seemed to let it go as she put her hands in her pockets. She looked thoughtful for a minute or so before she spoke,” Futaba is fine for the most part, last I saw her anyway,” Takemi touched her chin in thought,” Honestly though, I haven’t seen her in a while, after her mother’s passing she became a shut in. She doesn’t leave the house for anything now.” Takemi looked right to Akira,” I’m only telling you this because it’s you, and you live with Sojiro, but Futaba Sakura suffers from hallucinations related to the trauma of losing her mother.”

“Hallucinations?” Akira repeated.

“The last I was able to speak with her they involved people telling her that it was her fault that her mother died.” Takemi explained,” So, now you know. Just don’t bring it up with Sojiro. He’s very protective of her. Okay?” 

“Yeah,” Akira nodded,” Thanks Takemi-sensei.” 

“I think I’ll just head home after all. Good night.” Takemi let out a sigh then turned around to walk in the other direction. Had she seen them and decided to nose in? It was likely. She was good. Once she was out of sight Akechi mentioned he was in the mood for coffee,” We can talk up in my room.” 

“Alright.” Akechi led them back to Leblanc to run into the same woman Akira had run into when he came home from the fireworks show,” Sae-san?” Akechi questioned apparently floored that she was here.

“Akechi-kun?” Sae turned to face him,” What are you doing here?” 

“I enjoy the coffee here,” Akechi answered,” What are you doing here?” 

“That doesn’t matter,” Sae dismissed Akechi before looking at Sojiro,” If you fail to comply, your parental rights will be in danger. Are you okay with that?” 

“What?!” Sojiro snapped angrily.

“Considering the state of your daughter and your overall family there’s nothing working in your favor.” Sae explained,” If you want we can go to domestic court where your chances are losing are at 99.9%. Coupled with the suspicions of abuse you’d lose custody of not just her, but him as well.” Sae motioned at Akira who flinched at being used as a threat. He didn’t know what was going on but he really didn’t like this woman,” Considering his arrangement he’d go right into juvenile hall.”

“Now wait--” Akechi spoke as he stepped forward but Sojiro snapped.

“I’ve told you repeatedly I don’t know anything!” Sojiro sounded almost desperate and it broke Akira’s heart,” You already took everything!” 

“I have my doubts.” Sae said cooly,” So long as you refuse to help we will pursue this until the connection between mental shutdowns and cognitive psience can be disproven.” 

Akira shared a quick look with Akechi before Sojiro let out a sigh,” Fine. I yield.” Akira watched Sojiro sag slightly under the weight of his choice.

“Good, I’ll contact you at a later date then.” Sae smiled ever so sweetly before promising to return for a cup of coffee next time,” Akechi-kun, I’ll see you outside for a moment.”

“Of course.” Akechi smiled as he followed her outside. There was a heavy awkward silence that hung between Akira and Sojiro, broken only when Akechi came back inside,” Well that was unpleasant. Are you alright Boss?” Akechi questoned carefully.

“I’m fine.” Sojiro growled,” That woman really knows how to piss me off. You know her huh?” 

“I do.” Akechi nodded and chanced to sit down,” She and I work together sometimes. She can be… ambitious. I’m sorry she’s pressing you.” 

“It doesn’t matter.” Sojiro started to remove his apron.

“She’s threatening Futaba isn’t she?” Akira asked. 

“It doesn’t concern you.” Sojiro snapped,” Keep your nose out of it or I’ll throw you out.” Sojiro growled,” Lock up the store. I’m leaving for the night.” Sojiro circled around the counter then left with a sharp slam.

“Well, that was certainly alarming.” Akechi said once he was sure Sojiro was gone,” What did we learn today?” 

“Too much to process without coffee.” Akira shook his head,” You want some?” 

“Please.” Akechi requested as Akira began to make it,” I think the most troubling detail from that encounter was the claim of abuse.”

“No way Sojiro is doing that.” Akira shook his head,” He’s a prickly bastard but he’d never hurt someone.” 

“Perhaps not, but I worry about what is going on with Futaba that the public prosecutor’s office can threaten to remove her from his home.” Akechi touched his chin.

“We can’t press Boss for anymore information.” Morgana popped out to sit on a chair,” He’s mad enough that his threat to throw Akira out could be a real promise.”

“Indeed…” Akechi frowned,” I’d offer you a room with me however that wouldn’t solve the problem. Your probation says if you get expelled or lose your place here you’ll go to jail. Sae-san was right about that part just now.” 

“I’m guessing you looked at my file.” Akira frowned a little over his task of making coffee for them.

“I just wanted a few more details. I apologize.” Akechi bowed his head slightly,” It does press upon the importance of making sure we don’t make him too mad.” Akechi looked thoughtful,” Also the importance of giving _something_ to Sae-san. We can’t have you in jail yet.”

“Yet.” Akira rolled his eyes softly,” So, what did that woman want to talk to you about?” Akira asked as he began to pour coffee to pass to Akechi.

“She told me I’ve been assigned to the special investigation team looking into the Phantom Thieves. I almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation, considering I’m working with you. Honestly, I think I’ve been assigned as a joke of sorts.” Akechi admitted and a smile tugged at Akira’s lips.

“Joke or not, we have an inside man. They’ll never catch us now.” Akira joked. 

“I don’t know about that. You heard what she was talking about right? Cognitive… _something_?” Morgana struggled with the word Sae had used.

“Psience.” Akechi clarified,” The police have been looking at it on and off for the last year.” 

“What is it?” Morgana asked.

“It’s the study of the human psyche.” Akechi continued,” So if the Metaverse is a collective of a person’s cognition then it’s possible that with the study of cognitive psience they could find that world and, in turn, us.”

“Well that’s troubling.” Morgana’s ears folded down,” What even set the police on that path?” 

“When Wakaba Ishiki died,” Akechi answered, stirring his coffee,” there was attention brought to it. When the news reported her death questions came up about what a cognitive psiencist was as that was her registered occupation. When there was an effort to look into it there was no information available aside from what Ishiki herself had written down.” 

“That seems like a lot to go off of.” Akira frowned,” One woman’s data fueled a theory by the cops?” 

“Well, she’s not the only psiencist still out there. When information of her death and research came out a few people tried to speak up about it as well. Claiming that their funding had been abruptly cut or their research had been destroyed. There was a short time where people were talking about a coverup conspiracy but that faded away as most news does. It got dull so people stopped caring.” Akechi finished his explanation as he took a drink. 

“And you said Ishiki was Futaba’s mother?” Akira confirmed with Akechi,” They ruled her death a suicide?” 

“I can see those gears turning in your head, Kurusu.” Akechi commented,” But I admit I agree with where your mind is going. Wakaba Ishiki was killed because of her work on cognitive psience. Someone was working hard to cover up the topic, but Ishiki kept going. There’s no doubt in my mind that she was the victim of a mental shutdown that resulted in her death.” 

Akira felt his blood run cold at that thought. Who would do that and for what reason? Akira tossed around a few ideas as he blankly drank his own coffee,” the criminal,” he said suddenly.

“Criminal?” Morgana asked. 

“The one using the Metaverse for evil. They would benefit the most from making all knowledge of cognitive psience vanish.” Akie summarized,” Whoever has been causing all these shutdowns and breakdowns must have also killed Ishiki since she wouldn’t stop otherwise.”

“A bold assumption but one I have also been toying with. You’re rather sharp,” Akechi complimented Akira as he turned his cup,” The criminal that’s been causing the shutdowns and breakdowns hasn’t killed anyone in all the reported cases aside from the train incident in the spring. There have been countless victims who have fallen into vegitative states or simply don’t remember why they wanted to hurt people. It’s been difficult to find the pattern. Most of the breakdown victims end up in prison for hurting others.” Akechi explained,” It could be they caused her death, or something else did. Her suicide could have, in fact, been just that.” 

“I guess so.” Akira shook his head. Akechi had a point but it didn’t change what Akira felt. This was all connected somehow. They just needed to find that point and follow the string to the source.

________________________________________________________________________

The following day the party met at the sushi shop in Ginza to celebrate the end of term and the proper defeat of Kaneshiro’s palace. The afternoon was spent in simple conversation and while they all had the worry of Medjed and Futaba at the backs of their minds, they were able to act like teens for once.

It was nearing the end of their lunch when Akechi’s phone rang. He excused himself to answer it a few feet away,” When was that posted?” Akechi’s voice carried a small sense of urgency with it making everyone stop eating to look at him,” I see. Yes. I’ll be in soon.” Akechi hung up,” I have to go to the station.” 

“Why?” Makoto asked. 

“There’s been a development in the case with Medjed. They’ve apparently issued a challenge to the Phantom Thieves on their site,” Akechi said, prompting Ann to grab her phone to look. 

“We are disappointed in the people of Japan and their belief in the Phantom Thieves’ false justice.” Ann read a loud, the chef in front of them pausing to listen too,” Hence we shall proceed to cleanse Japan. This process will commence August 21st. As a result the Japanese economy will suffer devastating damages. However, we are magnanimous. We will give the Phantom Thieves one final chance to repent. As proof of this repentance we want the Phantom Thieves to reveal their true identities to the public. We will attack if these demands remain unmet. The future of Japan rests with the Phantom Thieves.” 

“You gotta be kidding me…” Ryuji groaned.

“Makes you wonder if these Phantom Thieves are really real eh?” The chef laughed then kept working.

“Let’s get some stuff to go and head out.” Makoto commented. They needed to be able to speak. 

“I’ll have to leave now. The investigation is calling for me and if I wait they’ll wonder why. You can text me later.” Akechi flashed one of his best TV smiles then set off. 

“Let’s go.” Akira stood to pay for the sushi then took the carry out before leading them out,” Let’s go to Leblanc to talk.” Akira cut Ryuji off when he started to talk again. It wasn’t safe to just spout off. Once they arrived in Leblanc, Sojiro was already gone,” Did he close up already?” Akira wondered out loud. 

“What do we do about Medjed?” Makoto questioned,” We need Alibaba’s help.” 

“Yeah…” Akira frowned. Everything they had heard from Takemi and Sae yesterday left Akira with mixed feelings. He didn’t know what was up with Futaba but he and Akechi had drawn the conclusion that Alibaba and Futaba were the same person. If they were going to stop Medjed they needed to help Futaba by stealing her heart,” Let’s go over to Boss’ and see if we can talk to Futaba.” 

“You think that’s a good idea?” Yusuke gave him a worried look,” If Boss gets upset enough he’ll throw you out.” 

“I know… but this is important. We have to try.” Akira nodded,” We’ll have an excuse at least.” 

“Excuse?” Ann repeated.

“I’m sorry Mona but we need to sacrifice your sushi.” Akira gave the cat a pitied look. 

“Not my fatty tuna!” Morgana cried. He let out a few more dry sobs before agreeing to let his sushi be used as an excuse before sinking back into Akira’s bag to mope.

“I’ll make it up to you, Mona.” Akira promised,” Let’s go over there and see what happens.” Akira picked up the sushi and on their way they went to Sojiro’s house. Makoto started by ringing the bell, when nothing happened she tried again, then again. There was no answer but clearly someone had to be there, the lights were on,” I heard she was a shut-in, Futaba, it might be possible she won’t answer.” 

“Yes, but shouldn’t Boss have opened the door by now?” Yusuke questioned looking over the gate,” I’m worried if he’s alright.” 

“Maybe he’s ignoring it?” Ryuji suggested. 

“I think after this many rings it's obvious we’re not leaving. It would be faster to come out and tell us to leave.” Makoto shook her head.

Yusuke set his hand on the gate to get a better look only for it to move under his hand and swing open,” Oh. The gate’s unlocked.” He glanced back,” Should we go in and check on them? What if Boss is hurt and Futaba herself is too scared to ask for help?” 

“Why would she be scared?” Ann wondered. 

“She was blamed for her mother’s death, was she not?” Yusuke posed the question,” If something were to happen to Boss she might be too afraid to say something for fear of being blamed again.” 

“Yusuke paints another picture with his words.” Akira complimented him,” Let’s go in and check.” Once in the house they could see a TV on down the hall. Akira was really starting to worry now. Was Sojiro okay? He toed off his shoes and started to walk down the hall when a loud crash of thunder knocked out the lights.

Akira pressed himself against the wall as suddenly his vision went completely black. He knew it was a blackout, he knew he wasn’t dead, but it certainly gave him a second to think about the nightmare he’d had. Akira slid down the wall, coughing and holding his hand over his mouth trying to muffle the sound as someone screamed from upstairs. 

“What was that?!” Makoto sounded terrified.

“Is everyone okay?” Ann questioned as she fished out her phone to turn on her light,” Who’s coughing?” 

Akira couldn’t answer and his wheezing was getting worse, something was coming out, and soon. Akira squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to will the attack to just end already. He was about to get caught. However, as Ann’s light shifted around to each of them Akira felt someone hover over him. Once the light from Ann’s phone hit, Akira was met with Yusuke’s form pretending to cough as he did. After a few more seconds Akira’s petals came up and he sucked in air to get his composure back.

“Yusuke, are you okay?” Akira asked. 

“Sorry, I tripped and felt as though a bug flew down my throat as I fell.” Yusuke lied, turning around once Akira had his face back to a stoic stare,” What was that scream?” 

“Maybe Futaba?” Morgana suggested.

Suddenly Makoto wanted to leave, was she scared of the dark? She was having a hell of a time trying to move though. She latched onto Akira which was a great excuse to go a bit slower. They were making their way back outside when Makoto had psyched herself out to a point where she couldn’t walk anymore.

“T-there’s someone--” Yusuke pointed so Ann turned her phone toward Akira and Makoto to highlight the form of a young girl with large glasses. 

Makoto screamed and fell to her knees as the girl screamed then ran upstairs. Akira wanted to follow after her but Makoto was holding onto his leg with enough grip to keep him planted to the ground.

“Futaba wait!” Ann shouted, moving around Akira to look up the stairs as Makoto began to beg for her sister to help her.

From outside came a shout from Sojiro and with it the others hid. Akira wiggled his leg to test it but no, he was still stuck to the spot, it was time to accept his fate,” Hey Boss.” Akira greeted him with a raised hand and a deadpan expression,” We brought sushi?” Akira pointed to the carryout still in his other hand.

“Don’t move!” Sojiro shouted, reaching for a flashlight. Once he had it on Akira and Makoto he seemed to relax,” What are you doing in my house?” 

“Sushi.” Akira repeated hoping against all odds the sushi would save him from Sojiro’s wrath. 

“You… you let yourself in?” Sojiro glared at him. 

“I can explain!” Makoto seemed to finally gather herself together, though she still held onto Akira’s leg,” W-we saw the lights on outside and when you didn’t answer we got worried that maybe you’d been hurt and couldn’t get up!” Makoto powered through still sounding rather scared.

“Seriously?” Sojiro let out a long sigh.

“We’re here too…” Ann announced moving around the corner with Yusuke and Ryuji,” Sorry Boss. But the door was ajar and the gate unlocked so we were really worried that something happened, like maybe someone was robbing the place? We didn’t want to just call the cops if we were wrong so we were going to check first!” 

“The door was unlocked?” Sojiro looked alarmed then up toward the second floor. Was he worried about Futaba?

“When the lights went out we heard someone scream and then before you came back we saw someone in the hall?” Ryuji explained,” They screamed at us then ran back upstairs.” 

“Oh.” Sorjiro relaxed, maybe that was enough for him to know Futaba was okay,” That would be my daughter, Futaba.”

“Is there any way we can meet with Futaba-san?” Makoto asked,” I think we might have scared her earlier so we’d like to apologize if possible.” 

“That’s…” Sojiro trailed off,” Let’s go talk at my shop. She’ll hear us if we stay here.” Sojiro motioned to be followed. Once they had made it to Leblanc he sat and began to explain. He told the story of how Futaba’s mother and he had been friends and what she was like. Akira listened carefully as Sojiro told the story from his perspective. Futaba’s mother had raised her alone and had really loved her. Then he spoke about how Wakaba had left, leading into explaining how she had died.

The story eventually led to what they had already known from Akechi’s digging, Futaba blamed herself for her mother’s death. Akira thought about the mention of the suicide note the police had found. Did the police force Futaba to read that note?

“But then a few months ago she started to get really scared even when nothing was happening.” Sojiro explained,” She’d say things like, ‘I hear voices…’ and, ‘mom is looking at me…’ it was worrying to say the least. When I had a doctor come to look at her, Futaba locked herself in her room and refused to come out. With the situation with her as it is, I couldn’t let you in my house.” 

“I understand.” Akira smiled,” You want to care for her and when I got here I wasn’t exactly the best guy to let around her. At least as far as you cared.”

“Right,” Sojiro agreed,” That being that, please just leave Futaba be. I appreciate you worrying about her but she won’t see anyone and I’m not going to force anything on her that she doesn’t want.”

“Okay Boss,” Akira agreed,” We’ll stay out.” 

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _11:55pm: **sponge boy** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**sponge boy:** we’ll go over what we heard here.  
 **The Juicer:** Is it wise? Alibaba might see.  
 **sponge boy:** it’s fine.  
 **cake pan:** okay. so. futaba wants us to steal her heart because of what happened with her mother.  
 **cake pan:** she’s been hearing voices and seeing things recently that have made it completely impossible for her to live normally.  
 **The Juicer:** Her personal blame of her mother’s death is so strong that she’s manifesting visual and auditory hallucinations of her mother.  
 **little spoon:** So she would like to discard her feelings of pain, but is unable to do it herself.  
 **little spoon:** To be that deeply scared is… saddening.  
 **cake pan** : but will changing her heart actually help her?  
 **Kitchen Sink** : It should be possible.  
 **Kitchen Sink** : To change a heart requires overwriting someone’s cognition with a different belief right?  
 **Kitchen Sink:** So if we steal her heart we can change the cognition of her believing she was responsible for her mother’s death and thus enabling her to break free of the mental prison she’s put herself into.  
 **sponge boy** : I think we should give it a try.  
 **sponge boy** : We need Alibaba to help us with Medjed, and I want to repay Boss.  
 **potato masher:** we checked for a palace too  
 **potato masher:** problem is that we dont know the distortion  
 **cake pan** : did mona come back?  
 **sponge boy** : Yeah one sec.  
 **sponge boy:** He got a look at Futaba, she apperently overheard our talk with Boss so she’s able to listen in on conversations, and she’s been monitoring our chats. She’s no amature.  
 **sponge boy:** It sounds like she’s the best lead we’ve got to take on Medjed.  
 **potato masher** : dude youre so stiff it hurts  
 **cake pan** : this is serious ryuji!  
 **sponge boy:** This is serious. Futaba is Boss’ daughter and I want to help them. I… consider Boss family. I have to do this.  
 **sponge boy** : Will you all help me?  
 **potato maher** : of course bro!  
 **potato masher** : no way im not helping you  
 **The Juicer** : I think it would be faster to see who wouldn’t. Anyone opposed?  
 **cake pan:**  
 **little spoon:**  
 **Kitchen Sink:**  
 **sponge boy:**  
 **The Juicer:** I think that means we’re unanimous.  
 **The Juicer:** We have an assembly to attend tomorrow morning. Once we’re done we’ll meet up at Leblanc.  
 **sponge boy:** i’ll get working on some iced coffee.  
 **potato maher:** uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh do i have to go?  
 **cake pan:** yes.  
 **little spoon:** Yes.  
 **Kitchen Sink:** Yes.  
 **sponge boy:** yes.  
 **The Juicer:** Yes.  
 **potato masher:** this shit sucks  
 **sponge boy:** see you tomorrow.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's fucking with the timeline again? if you guessed me you would be correct! :D i put akechi on the phantom thieves case early for a few reasons. one is to reset the pace for his lil arc here. another is because i thought it would be a good point of contact for him to use for the party. 
> 
> i still want to impress upon the fact that akira's been working on his confidants in between scenes. since i assume most people reading this have probably played the game i'm skipping writing most of them. there's like one or two that i will be writing but as a general idea i won't be. this is mostly akeshu rewrite fun so... sorry. 
> 
> side note, when i finish this i'm going to play p4 and prolly write some kind of 'crossover' thing with 4 and 5 as a continuation of this bc i'm trash like that. i already have some ideas. idk how long it would be. prolly not as long as this fic, but yeah. fun stuff. byeeee
> 
> preview:  
>  _ **cake pan:** when ARE you getting a bf akira?  
>  **sponge boy:** i’ll die before i get a bf.  
>  **little spoon** : “≖ ‸ ≖  
>  **cake pan** : akira pls.  
>  **sponge boy** : you can’t put me on the spot like that ann.  
>  **sponge boy:** you’ve already seen me panic.  
>  **cake pan** : i have.  
>  **cake pan:** it was really bad guys.  
>  **sponge boy:** so let’s not discuss when i’ll get a bf.  
> _


	13. i hate sand, it’s coarse and it gets everywhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the thieves finally make it into futaba's palace. but the drama really takes place outside of it. due to poor timing one more person it brought in on his flowery secret. the question becomes, will they keep it a secret?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy saturday~!

The following day the party met up outside of Sojirou’s house after eating lunch in the attic,” Okay so we just have to try some words right?” Akechi leaned toward Akira’s phone to look at the words already there,” Maybe a prison?” 

“Nope.” Akira held his phone out more toward Akechi so he would back up. It was too hot to be that close to anyone, even Akechi,” How are you not dying in that sweater vest?” 

“It’s not too hot today.” Akechi smiled brightly before the party guessed a few more words,” This isn’t working.” 

“Well, we could go in and ask right?” Ann suggested. 

“You mean just walk right in there?” Makoto chewed her bottom lip. 

“Boss is working. It wouldn’t be impossible to go in without causing trouble.” Yusuke offered.

“Yeah but…” Makoto frowned,” The door should be locked now right?” 

“I can take care of that.” Morgana insisted. 

“As can I.” Akechi offered. 

“How many of us can pick a lock?” Akira had to ask and when only he, Akechi, and Morgana raised their hands he nodded,” Well, maybe everyone else should work on it.” 

“Why does a detective know how to pick a lock?” Ryuji questioned as they moved into the yard and let Morgana work at the lock.

“Knowing the tools of your opponent’s trade is important. I can’t imagine why I shouldn’t know how. It’s more troubling that you don’t.” Akechi explained just as the door opened. The party then went inside, careful to close the door behind them in case anyone came around.

“Follow me. I know where the room is.” Morgana insisted as he led the party upstairs to a door covered in caution tape and signs,” Here it is.”

“Alright,” Makoto reached up to knock,” Futaba-chan? Are you there?” There was no answer and after a few attempts Makoto called her Alibaba.

“Why are you here?” Akira read the message from Futaba.

“Answering in text.” Akechi leaned around to look at Akira’s phone again. Akira really wanted Akechi to stop getting so close to him. He was going to pass out.

“You are Futaba Sakura, aren’t you?” Makoto asked.

“She’s not answering again.” Yusuke commented when nothing came for a minute,” She may not like her name.”

“We don’t have time for this.” Morgana complained,” Boss could still come back for something from the shop and then what?” 

“Alibaba, if we don’t learn more about you then we can’t steal your heart.” Akechi answered,” Please answer our questions.” 

“Fine.” Akira read,” Over chat, and I won’t open the door.”

“That’s good enough.” Makoto nodded,” How is it living in his house?”

“It’s painful.” Akira dictated and it hit him kind of hard. Sojiro was trying to help her the best he could but Futaba was still suffering.

“Why don’t you go out?” Akechi took a turn at the next question.

“I can’t leave this place. I’m going to die here.” Akira pursed his lips after the last line. They needed to save this girl,” Alibaba, why do you think you’re going to die?” Akira questioned before another message came,” Why? This place is my tomb.” Akira shivered at the thought of it then looked toward the door. 

“Tomb?” Ann questioned carefully.

“Is that the keyword?” Ryuji asked but when Akira didn’t respond he stepped forward to take his phone and enter the word in. With a positive hit the group let out a mixed sigh of relief and worry. All of them were worried about Futaba.

“We got it Futaba.” Makoto called,” We’ll steal your heart, please make good on your promise after we do.” 

“Of course.” Ryuji read off,” Alright, let’s get in there! Annnnd clicky.” Ryuji pressed the navigate button. 

“Idiot! Don’t do that!” Akechi and Morgana shouted before they warped into the Palace. Once the distortion of transporting cleared Akechi wheeled on Ryuji to snatch Akira’s phone from his hand,” What possessed you to try taking us here in the middle of her house?!” 

“Relax!” Ryuji threw his hands up,” It looks like we’re fine!” 

“We’re in the middle of a desert.” Yusuke scanned the horizon,” Being _‘fine’_ seems questionable.” 

“We’re still in our normal clothes.” Makoto looked down. 

“Futaba wants us to steal her heart ourselves. It would be weird if she saw us as foes.” Morgana explained. 

“It’s… hot.” Ann began to fan herself. 

“This might pose a problem.” Akechi passed Akira back his phone,” Do we see the palace from here?” 

“I think I see it there?” Morgana pointed,” I’ll get us there!” He then announced before bouncing off to turn into his car form,” I’ll run the AC full blast!” 

“He has AC?” Akechi worried. 

“Why did you have to question it bro? Now I just see him like, in the dash blowing on us.” Ryuji groaned as he hung his head.

“That’s not how it works!” Morgana snapped,” Do you want to walk or not?!” 

“I’m good with this!” Ann quickly rushed to get into the car, the rest piled in after. Yusuke was sitting in the far back so they wouldn’t be crowded, leaving Ryuji, Akira, and Akechi in the middle seat. 

The promise of AC was a lie. The buttons and knobs turned out to just be for show and rolling the windows down did nothing to help escape the heat surrounding them. They weren’t even halfway to their destination and the party was covered in sweat. Akechi pulled off his vest after only a few minutes and shortly after that rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned the top half of his shirt. Akira was in a personal hell and it wasn’t due to the heat.

Every once in a while he’d glance over to Akechi finding a new problematic detail to the detective’s current clothing. What Akira had failed to mind was Ryuji. After trying to find something to distract himself with, Akira looked to the blond boy. He was leaning forward watching something very intently, so Akira leaned forward too to see what was up. 

“How are the boys?” Makoto asked Ann who turned to look. She caught Ryuji staring down her shirt, and Akira trying to find what he was looking at, as she tried to fan herself with the clothing. Angrily, Ann popped the seat back to slam into them which sent Akira smashing into Akechi who complained loudly about his knees and then the rest of his body as a sweaty Akira pressed against him. 

“Perverts!” Ann shouted at them as the boys struggled to get the seat off of them. Akechi pushed it back up with a painful groan.

“Sakamoto, when you do something stupid like that please don’t get everyone else hurt as well maybe?” Akechi requested as the seat latched back into place. He didn’t actually sound all that mad and Akira had to wonder if it was the heat sapping his energy. 

Akira’s wondering didn’t last long as he launched a full blown coughing fit. He hadn’t been expecting it and there was no tickle, it just came on suddenly. With few options of where to hide, Akira doubled over to cough into his hands,” Wrong pipe.” Akira dismissed when asked if he was okay by Ryuji. 

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Akechi rested a hand on Akira’s back. This was bad, Akechi was going to find him out, shit.

Suddenly, Morgana shifted out of car form sending them all flying out into the sand. Everyone rolled a few feet in random directions giving Akira the space he needed to hide his attack. 

Once Akira rolled a good distance away with the jolt of being thrown, Akira was able to push out the petals. Rather Akira wanted it to be petals, when he opened his hand to look down Akira was met with a full flower. It wasn’t actually bloomed but it was still intact.

“Shit.” Akira frowned then dug out a bit of sand to bury the flower into the ground. No one needed to see that.

“Akira! Are you okay?” Yusuke struggled to rush toward him through the sand as everyone else gathered around Morgana. 

“I’m fine.” Akira dismissed Yusuke’s hand as he stood on his own then moved to see what had happened to Morgana,” Mona are you alright?” 

“Sorry, I don’t know what happened.” Morgana sat up,” Is anyone hurt?” Everyone said they were alright, people were more worried about Morgana.

“Can you change back?” Makoto asked.

“I don’t think so.” Morgana looked at his paws,” But we’re almost there!” He pointed up to the pyramid. 

“Let’s walk the rest of the way.” Akechi suggested trying to dust the sand off of the parts of his body that it’s stuck to,” This is why I don’t go to the beach.” He complained softly.

“Because you hate sand?” Ryuji’s lips curled into a smile,” it’s coarse and it gets everywhere?” 

Akechi turned his gaze to Ryuji, trying to figure out if he was being used as the butt of a joke. Rather than reply he continued to try and get the sand off as he walked toward the palace. 

______________________________________________________________

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:06pm: **sponge boy** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**sponge boy:** i’ve never seen indiana jones in my life but i know what he feels now.  
**Kitchen Sink:** As sad as it is to say I’m glad she saw us as foes rather quickly.  
**Kitchen Sink:** My feet are very burned.  
**cake pan:** mine too.  
**The Juicer:** I’m in a similar situation.  
**little spoon:** Makoto you didn’t have socks on did you?  
**The Juicer** : I didn’t. (-﹏-。)  
**sponge boy:** going to be a yikes from me.  
**sponge boy** : let’s take a day to recover.  
**Kitchen Sink** : I would argue but with Makoto-chan’s feet as they are, I agree.  
**potato masher** : cool  
**sponge boy:** reminder we’re meeting at leblanc for our hideout during this palace.  
**cake pan** : got it.  
**potato masher** : yo akira  
**potato masher:** i wanna hit up the gym tomorrow you down?  
**sponge boy** : hell yeah.  
**sponge boy** : let’s get swole.  
**sponge boy** : and i can oggle the men.  
**potato masher** : bro  
**sponge boy:** i am a healthy gay teen with no boyfriend and a thirst.  
**Kitchen Sink** : No boyfriend?  
**sponge boy:** no…. why?  
**Kitchen Sink** : I thought you and Kitagawa were a couple.  
**cake pan:** asgjkl;hjklhsgl;as  
**little spoon:** Why would you think that?  
**Kitchen Sink** : I suppose the matching names when I joined.  
**little spoon:** Ah. That was Ann.  
**cake pan:** yusuke was at akira’s place for a few days and after we saved him from madarame and in the middle of the night akira sneaked into bed with yusuke in the middle of the night.  
**potato masher:** then yusuke told us he was getting spooned and ann did the name change  
**sponge boy:** i’m being betrayed by my team. stop selling me out.  
**little spoon:** It was very comforting.  
**cake pan:** when ARE you getting a bf akira?  
**sponge boy:** i’ll die before i get a bf.  
**little spoon** : “≖ ‸ ≖  
**cake pan** : akira pls.  
**sponge boy** : you can’t put me on the spot like that ann.  
**sponge boy:** you’ve already seen me panic.  
**cake pan** : i have.  
**cake pan:** it was really bad guys.  
**sponge boy:** so let’s not discuss when i’ll get a bf.  
**potato masher:** bro you already got a bf  
**Sponge boy:** bro?  
**potato masher:** me!  
**potato masher** : best friend  
**sponge boy:** BRO!  
**sponge boy** : best bro. bb.  
**potato masher** : hell yeah  
**sponge boy** : there you go ann. i have a bf.  
**cake pan** : makoto please help me.  
**The Juicer:** I don’t even know where to start here.  
**Kitchen Sink:** Back to topic... that was my mistake then. The boyfriend assumption.  
**cake pan:** are you interested in him akechi-kun?  
**Kitchen Sink:** Yusuke or Kurusu?  
**cake pan:** akira? it’s a non-discussion that everyone wants a piece of yusuke.  


_**{** 10:18pm: **Akira Kurusu** has left the group **}**_

**Kitchen Sink:** I wouldn’t say no exactly.  
**Kitchen Sink** : ?  
**cake pan:** uhhhhhhh.  
**potato masher:** he wont accept an invite back  
**cake pan** : weird.  
**The Juicer:** …  
**Kitchen Sink:** Hm.  
**little spoon** : I’m sure there’s nothing to it. He is dramatic afterall.  
**The Juicer** : Fair enough.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** YUSUKE KITAGAWA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:20pm: **Yusuke** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yusuke** : Are you alright?  
**Akira** : sec  
**Akira** :  
**Akira** :  
**Yusuke** : It’s been twenty minutes.  
**Akira** : so… i spit up a whole one. or two. just now. and one in the cat. so three. whole ones.  
**Akira** : *car.  
**Akira** : *he is not a cat.  
**Yusuke** : Oh no.  
**Akira** : yeah.  
**Yusuke** : People are worried about you after you left the thread.  
**Akira** : akechi is messaging me.  
**Akira** : i’m pretending i’ve already died.  
**Akira** : i need to see takemi tomorrow.  
**Akira** : even tho she told me to message her when full ones started popping out.  
**Akira** : but it’s late… anyway.  
**Akira** : maybe i should delete myself from existence.  
**Yusuke** : Do you want me to come over?  
**Akira** : no. it’s okay. i didn’t even know he thought we were dating.  
**Yusuke** : That was a problem.  
**Yusuke** : I’m glad we could get it cleared up.  
**Akira** : yusuke i appreciate you.  
**Akira** : i’m sorry i’m like this.  
**Yusuke** : Don’t apologize.  
**Yusuke** : Like I said, I want you alive more than with me.  
**Akira** : okay. i ...need to figure out how to answer akechi’s ‘did i say something wrong’ thing.  
**Akira** : or i can ignore it and say i passed away.  
**Akira** : *out.  
**Akira** : unless… 🤔  
**Yusuke** : Calm down.  
**Yusuke** : He said ‘I wouldn’t say no exactly.’  
**Akira** : ah.  
**Akira** : i had good reason to leave still.  
**Yusuke** : You did. Just calm down.  
**Yusuke** : Message me if you need anything.  
**Akira** : maybe another pity fuck.  
**Yusuke** : … Akira.  
**Akira** : sorry. i’m going to work out what to say to him.  
**Akira** : if i die you are still my favorite.  
**Yusuke** : Akira....  
**Akira** : i’ll cut back on the death jokes. Sorry.  
**Yusuke** : Thank you.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:20pm: **Goro** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Goro** : You left the conversation rather abruptly.  
**Goro** : I’m sorry if I said something wrong.  
**Goro** : Did I step on toes?  
**Goro** : Perhaps you’re trying to date Kitagawa?  
**Goro** : I could help somehow.  
**Akira** : i need you to reel it back a smidge.  
**Akira** : i’m not trying to date yusuke.  
**Akira** : he’s got a cute butt but i’m not interested in him that way.  
**Akira** : it’s hard to explain.  
**Akira** : i’d be dtf but beyond that…  
**Goro** : dtf?  
**Akira** : down to fuck.  
**Goro** : Oh.  
**Akira** : what happened was i thumbed the “leave group” and at that point it was funnier to just stay out for dramatics.  
**Goro** : Ah. Well, Yusuke was right then.  
**Goro** : Sorry.  
**Akira** : just don’t pull your pretty hair out.  
**Goro** : Well, would you like to join me tomorrow night to hang out?  
**Akira** : are you asking me on a date sir?  
**Goro** : Yes.  
**Akira** : oh shit  
**Goro** : Since it turns out you’re not dating Kitagawa I don’t see why not.  
**Akira** : 💘  
**Goro** : I had thought your date questions were you baiting me into getting into a fight with him.  
**Goro** : You are frustratingly abstruse sometimes.  
**Akira** : i’ll choose to take that as a compliment.  
**Goro** : I’ll meet you at Leblanc around seven?  
**Akira** : i’ll get all gussied up before you arrive.  
**Goro** : Sleep well.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ YUSUKE KITAGAWA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _10:45pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : I might live.  
**Yusuke** : ?  


**Akira has shared an image.**

**Yusuke** : Oh!  
**Akira** : a date is a good start.  
**Yusuke** : It is!  
**Yusuke** : Let me know how it goes.  
**Akira** : you sure you wanna know?  
**Yusuke** : I do.  
**Yusuke** : I want to make sure you’ll be alright.  
**Akira** : ( ´•̥̥̥ω•̥̥̥` )  
**Yusuke** : Enjoy your date.  
**Akira** : btw  
**Akira** : mona ejected us from the car to give me cover.  
**Akira** : i feel so fucking bad for makoto because of it.  
**Yusuke** : I wondered if that was the case.  
**Akira** : i don’t deserve all the help.  
**Yusuke** : You do. Get some sleep.  
**Akira** : good night yusuke.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The following day Akira got up bright and early to meet with Takemi. However, he had when getting out of bed. When he tried to stand he was struck with difficulty breathing. He felt like he had cobwebs in his lungs but no matter what he did he couldn’t get it to loosen up he tried to force it or tapped on his chest with his fist, but nothing came. 

“Akira?” His wheezing alerted Morgana who had been in a pretty deep sleep,” Are you okay? Should I get Boss?” 

“I’m--” Akira gasped,” fine.” He was not fine,” Inhaler.” Akira pointed, letting out another wheeze as Morgana jumped from the bed to get the inhaler and give it to Akira. He gave the inhaler a good shake before he took a deep breath. It was still webby and uncomfortable but he could breathe a little now. 

“That was a bad one.” Morgana sat down to look up at Akira,” I can hear the garden rattling around in your chest.”

“I know.” Akira rubbed over his chest,” The medication isn’t working as well as it was at first.” 

“You’re going to see Takemi?” Morgana questioned.

“Yeah.” Akira nodded,” I need something else to help with this.” Akira took in a deep breath which only set off a coughing fit. Nothing came up but it did leave him with a sense of doom. If trying to breathe was going to cause this much trouble in the morning, what was going to happen to him in a palace?

“Today?” Morgana was worried and Akira couldn’t blame him. 

“I’m going once I get dressed.” Akira stood but his head swam and he had to sit again. After a short rest he stood again, this time managing to stay on his feet,” Alright, here we go.”

_____________________________________________________________________

When he walked into her clinic she looked him over suspiciously. He had just been in here earlier during the week. It wasn’t time for a check up so it had to be something else,” Need medicine?” 

“Do you have anything to treat burns?” Akira decided to lead with. Maybe he could get something to help Makoto.

“I do,” Takemi nodded looking at Akira,” Let’s head into the exam room.” She stood up to lead Akira out of the waiting room. Once they were alone she started to pick out the medicine Akira needed,” Anything else?” 

“Uhhh, yeah.” Akira reached into his pocket to pull out the two flowers he’d spit up last night.

Takemi looked at his hand before shooting a glare at him,” When?” 

“Last night…” Akira pursed his lips after knowing Takemi had told him to call her no matter the time of night. Takemi instead let out a sigh before putting on gloves to pick up the flowers,” You’re not mad?” 

“For not calling me? I am, but I can put it aside,” Takemi began to open the flowers up to get a look at them before opening her flower book to check against it,” This confirms the flower type. The size of the flower is still small, and I don’t see any blood so I think you’ll bounce between petals and blooms for a while longer. I am going to prescribe you a stronger inhaler medication. You’ll have to take it three times over the day or anytime you have a severe attack. And I want you to start taking oxygen treatments.” Takemi pulled open a drawer to pull out her clipboard and look over her plans,” The oxygen has a slowing agent in it that works after blooms start to come out, and since it’s pure oxygen you’ll get more air into your blood. Have you been experiencing any dizzy spells?” 

“Uh, a little.” Akira chewed his bottom lip.

Takemi moved to Akira to listen to his lungs. Worried etched itself onto her face at the sound coming through her stethoscope. There were still flowers rattling around in Akira’s chest that were probably looking for a way to come out.

“When do you want me to start?” Akira asked after waiting for Takemi to say something.

“I’m going to get the oxygen right now. I’m sending it home with you. I’m also going to take blood to test how it’s been going. Your blood can indicate how fast it’s currently growing.” Takemi stood,” I owe you for Miwa-chan so I’m going to give my all to save you.” 

“Thanks Takemi-sensei.” Akira smiled softly,” I have good news? Um, I have a date with him tonight?” 

Takemi looked a bit surprised,” The boy from the other day, right?” 

“Yeah…” Akira nodded,” Doesn’t look like my type?” 

“I think he does actually.” Takemi mused,” He looks like a smart boy. A bit like you. He’s a detective though isn’t he? I’ve seen him on TV.” Takemi knew he was a Phantom Thief.

“I like a big brain.” Akira joked,” But it’s safe. He’s… a confidant.” Akira didn’t want to put Akechi on blast like this but Takemi was important to keeping him alive and he trusted her. 

“Well, if you’re making it work and he knows who you are I believe you have a chance.” Takemi smiled fondly,” Alright, sit still while I get the tank and the blood collection supplies. I’ll be back.” Takemi left and Akira sat there thinking about what he was going to do with Akechi. He needed to be careful, if he wasn’t he’d end up dead like that girl. He needed to make absolutely sure there were feelings there. Hopefully he’d be able to figure it out alone so if he ended up dead he wouldn’t scar anyone.

Takemi returned with the oxygen bottle and Akira let her take the blood before she put the mask on his face. “If you get tired just lay down. I want you on this for at least an hour before you head home. Make sure you use it nightly before bed. You can wear it when you do homework. An hour each night, with this size and a regulator we should be able to get one bottle to last a week. If you end up needing it more often just tell me and I’ll arrange for something else.”

Akira didn’t want to take the bottle home with him. Someone was bound to notice and by someone he meant Akechi. Akira wouldn’t be able to handle Akechi finding out he needed oxygen. Akira leaned back against the wall with a sigh thinking about the best place to hide the tank in his fairly exposed room. He was starting to nod off when his phone pinged. 

_** RYUJI SAKAMOTO ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _11:47am: **Ryuji** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji** : yo bro  
**Ryuji** : where you at?  
**Akira** : shit.  
**Akira** : i forgot.  
**Akira** : i’m going to have to get a rain check.  
**Ryuji** : no prob bro  
**Ryuji** : you ok tho?  
**Ryuji** : youre pretty on time and shiz  
**Akira** : i’ve been doing copious amounts of cocaine and lost track of time.  
**Ryuji** : haha  
**Ryuji** : seriously tho  
**Ryuji** : im worried about you  
**Akira** : i’m okay.  
**Akira** : i just let time get away from me when i was helping sojiro.  
**Ryuji** : i could drop by the cafe and we can just game and shit  
**Akira** : uhhhh, when?  
**Ryuji** : twenty minutes?  


Akira paused his conversation with Ryuji to look at the time, he wasn’t even half done yet, and he needed time to hide the bottle after he got home.

_** RYUJI SAKAMOTO ** _

**Akira** : i’m still busy for a while. give me an hour and a half?  
**Akira** : and i got a date tonight so you have to get out by five.  
**Ryuji** : A DATE?  
**Ryuji** : WITH WHO?!  
**Akira** : he’s tall, valiant, and a coffee snob.  
**Ryuji** : …  
**Ryuji** : 🤔  
**Akira** : i’m giving no more clues.  
**Ryuji** : yusuke?  
**Akira** : does EVERYONE think he and i are a thing?  
**Ryuji** : kinda  
**Akira** : it’s not yusuke!  
**Akira:** why do people keep thinking yusuke and i are a thing?  
**Akira** : you fuck a guy one time and suddenly everyone’s like ‘oh man they’re dating.’  
**Akira** : it’s just sex!  
**Ryuji** : uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh WHAT???????????  
**Akira** : oh fuck  
**Ryuji** : WUYOU DISD WHAT?!  
**Akira** : HOW DO I DELETE THE LAST 12SECONDS OF MY LIFE?  
**Ryuji** : BRO  
**Ryuji** : BRO YOU TWO REALLY?  
**Akira** : I WANT TO DIE.  
**Akira** : DON’T TELL ANYONE.  
**Ryuji** : BRO ID NEVER SELL YOU OUT BUT WHAT THE FUCK  
**Akira** : LISTEN THERE WAS A LOT INVOLVED.  
**Akira:** I CAN’T TELL YOU EVERYTHING BUT IT WAS JUST A PLATONIC THING.  
**Ryuji** : HOW?????????????????????????????????  
**Akira** : IT JUST WAS.  
**Ryuji** : does anyone else know?  
**Akira** : ann thinks i fucked yuuki.  
**Akira** : yusuke knows. mona prolly knows?  
**Ryuji** : OF COURSE YUSUKE KNOWS YOU TOOL  
**Akira** : if it wouldn’t out me to everyone else in chat i would post you calling me a tool to group chat to show how far i have fallen.  


Ryuji: bro youre not even in the group chat rn  
**Akira** : oh. right. god.  
**Akira** : my big mouth ruins my own life.  
**Ryuji** : i cant believe you got laid before me  
**Akira** : ryuji.  
**Akira** : bro.  
**Akira** : at the rate you run your mouth MONA is going to get laid before you.  
**Ryuji** : BRO  
**Ryuji** : OW  
**Akira** : pls don’t sell me out.  
**Ryuji** : i wont!!!! just....... damn  
**Akira** : i’ll bring you some burn meds too.  
**Ryuji** : ok ill head out and see you in an hour  
**Ryuji** : but were hitting the gym hard after the palace  
**Akira** : assuming we all live, yes.  
**Ryuji** : dramatic bitch  
**Akira** : ( ˘ ³˘)  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira let his phone drop to the side as he stared at the wall. God he was a dumbass. He needed to pay more attention to what he was saying. At least he had let it slip to Ryuji, his ride or die bro, rather than Akechi where he could literally kill himself if he said the wrong thing. When his hour was up Takemi gave Akira the supplies he would need before sending him home.

Upon his return home Akira was faced with Ryuji sitting at the bar,” Uhhh, what’s with the tank?” Ryuji pointed.

“You’re here early.” Akira countered.

“I didn’t have anything to do so I was going to just wait for you to be done working.” Ryuji jabbed a thumb back toward the bathroom,” Boss said you headed out first thing this morning and he hasn’t seen you all day.” 

God. Fucking. Damn. It.

“You--” Akira sighed heavily and hung his head,” Fuck.” The soft mutter did not go missed but Ryuji didn’t push,” Upstairs.” Akira pointed with his free hand before leading the way up just as Sojiro came out of the bathroom. He paused to watch the teens walk past and eyed the oxygen.

“O-oh hey, you got that for me huh? I was wondering where you went all day?” Sojiro tried to cover for Akira. 

“It’s fine. Thanks.” Akira dismissed the help as he climbed the stairs and set the tank down by his bed,” Alright,” Akira turned to face Ryuji as he took a seat on the couch,” do not freak out. I’m managing this, but I need you to not scream.” 

“Bro…” Ryuji looked worried now,” Are you really doing cocaine?” Akira snorted hard at the suggestion which set off an attack. He began to wheeze as he reached into his pocket to pull out his inhaler,” Dude are you okay?!” Ryuji rushed to Akira’s side as he took a breath of medication which helped to dislodge the flower that had been bothering him. Once it was out he closed his hand around it to regain his breath. Once he had recovered he opened his hand for Ryuji to see.

“I have hanahaki.” Akira admitted. 

The day outside was a hot one, but cold silence settled over the room before Ryuji grabbed Akira’s shoulders and spoke seriously,” I love you.” 

“It doesn’t work like that.” Akira laughed then waved him off,” Yusuke tried that. How do you think we arrived at having sex?” 

“Damnit.” Ryuji groaned then sat down,” Who is it for? Please tell me it’s the guy you’re going on a date with tonight.” Ryuji begged.

“It is.” Akira confirmed and flashed a grin before he put the cap back on his inhaler. It was probably good that this attack happened now, Akira didn’t have that webby feeling in his chest anymore,” There was a huge misunderstanding that got cleared up last night so that’s in my favor.”

“Misunderstanding?” 

“That Yusuke and I were dating.” Akira clarified hoping Ryuji could connect the dots.

“Dude.” Ryuji’s lips thinned. It was coming to him,” not him.” 

“I’m sorry.” Akira hung his head.

“Fuckin’ _Akechi_?” Ryuji hissed,” He’s such a self- righteous dickwad it hurts.” 

“Listen, I can’t control it.” Akira defended himself,” I didn’t realize it happened until a petal came up and there was Yusuke looking at me holding it in my hand.” Akira explained. 

“So he tried to confess too?” Ryuji questioned. 

“Yeah,” Akira nodded,” no, I’m not going to have sex with you too.” Akira spared Ryuji a playful side glance earning an offended sputter,” It was a rough night. I felt like shit.I just wanted to feel something good.” Akira explained,” Yusuke was there so... Yeah.” Akira put his inhaler away,” My doctor has me using that oxygen at night now and the inhaler with attacks.” Akira leaned back until he was laying on his back with a hand over his face after pushing his glasses up out of the way,” I’m so fucked.” 

“Why?” Ryuji leaned over to look at Akira,” You’re goin’ on a date tonight right? Just throw yourself at him.” 

“No. He’s not that kind of guy.” Akira shook his head,” So right now I’m just testing waters.” 

“Man…” Ryuji laid back on the bed now as well,” Shit’s fucked.” 

“You kiss your mother with that mouth?” 

“Fuck off.” 

“Come February I will.” Akira promised though he was sure that he had far less time now. Takemi was going to look but there was no doubt in Akira’s mind that he was probably looking at December.

“So you two better be fucking by November.” Ryuji nudged Akira,” I won’t say shit to anyone.” 

“You, Mona, and Yusuke can form a club.” Akira shook his head,” The ‘ _How DO we Keep This Ground Shattering Secret From a Fucking Detective?’_ club.” 

“I dunno, sounds rough,” Ryuji frowned,” but uh, I’d be down to trying it out. Maybe I’ll form a plan, the plan that’s ‘ _everyone tells everyone else that they love them_ ’ plan.” Ryuji wiggled his eyebrows,” Mandatory participation.” 

“Good luck with that.” Akira sat up,” Alright, you want to dick around for like two hours before I gotta get ready?” 

“Sounds good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sup dudes? let's see if ryuji can keep a secret yeah? to be fair, akira did this to himself lol i'm bullshitting hard with what kind of treatments will help with hanahaki. i'm sorry if it sounds majorly unconvincing but this is the route i decided to go with. takemi is just in a horrible position of "stop spending time with him" and "date him" which is hard on her. um, yeah i don't have a lot to say. i'll be busy today and then sunday is father's day so i gotta go by and see my dad. then uhhhh, wait to hear back from a job. OH RIGHT, i had a job interview this week! :D i'm very excited. if i get it i might look at getting a place for myself bc where i'm living rn is.... _stressful_. cross your fingers guys. not a lot of substance in this preview because there's just a LOT that happens. sorry.
> 
> preview:  
>  _“So I’m your assistant again?” Akira leaned on the head on the bat as he placed it on the ground._
> 
> _“Implying you ever stopped being that.” Akechi chuckled as he took his bat back up to swing at another ball._


	14. save you from yourself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akira learns what akechi thinks a date is. alibaba gets a little too nosey with akira's chatlogs. akechi gives akira some much needed advice AND yusuke makes an important suggestion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is much longer than the last one. i added something like 3/4k words to it because i wanted to add some more stuff to it after i wrote it the first time. so buckle up for a long one.

Akira’s date was not a date in the most traditional sense. When Akechi arrived he looked troubled by something and when Akira called to him as he walked past he seemed to suddenly remember where he was,” Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s fine but are you?” Akira asked. Akechi wasn’t the type to mentally check out like that. 

“Well…” Akechi hummed before he looked around,” There’s a batting cage around here right?” 

“Huh? Yeah.” Akira pointed vaguely. 

“Let’s go there.” Akechi motioned for Akira to follow him as he led the way to the cages. Once he paid for both of them to swing they each took a spot and began to bat,” I’ve been looking back over a case I’d been investigating when I was looking at the Phantom Thieves, it was just after the Madarame case.” Akechi explained hitting a ball. Was he just trying to get his thoughts in order or his frustrations out? Maybe both. 

“Oh? What for?” Akira asked to encourage Akechi to continue. 

“There were some dark rumors revolving around Kawanabe,” Akechi hit another ball,” Are you familiar with him?” 

“Kawanabe… Yusuke knows him.” Akira hit his own ball,” What about him?” 

“He offers to sponsor young, aspiring painters, but has a habit of tying them down with disadvantageous exclusive contracts then demands high payments to make up for the costs of the exhibits.” Akechi explained,” I only bring this up because I saw Kitagawa speaking with him and know you two are close.” Akechi stuck another ball but it was sloppy and bounced along the ground,” I thought it might be prudent for Kitagawa to know so he doesn’t fall victim to another adult trying to use him for his art.”

“Why tell me and not Yusuke himself?” Akira had to ask. 

“I lack proof.” Akechi answered, looking to Akira as he hit a ball,” I didn’t want to say something without it and make Kitagawa mad.”

“Yusuke doesn’t get mad like that,” Akira swung again but this time missed,” Shit.” 

“I thought as much but I don’t know him as well as you do.” Akechi turned to Akira to let a ball pass,” I didn’t even mean to get involved with this but we’re all part of the same team. If something happens to Kitagawa then we’re all in trouble.” 

“I see your point,” Akira lowered his bat,” So what do you want to do?” 

“I want to investigate further and would benefit from your help. Getting Kitagawa involved without knowing everything might cause a needless rift.” Akechi explained,” Can I count on you?” 

“Of course.” Akira nodded,” I’m not about to let Yusuke get taken advantage of again.” 

“I thought as much,” Akechi smiled,” Hopefully with your help I might be able to find the common thread.” 

“So I’m your assistant again?” Akira leaned on the head on the bat as he placed it on the ground. 

“Implying you ever stopped being that.” Akechi chuckled as he took his bat back up to swing at another ball. 

Akira laughed as well, flipping the bat grip back into his hands before he focused on the next ball coming. With a swift strike he sent the ball flying right into the homerun target near the top of the netting. 

“Very good. Well, now that we’ve discussed that, how about dinner?” Akechi raised his hand to tell the cashier to turn the ball machine off so they could step out safely. 

The rest of the night Akechi spent telling Akira about what he’d found out so far and the people he wanted to look into. It wasn’t really a date by standard means but it was important so Akira didn’t mind. He needed to make sure Yusuke wasn’t about to get screwed over by some other adult. He didn’t deserve that.

____________________________________________________________________

_** RYUJI SAKAMOTO ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:54pm: **Ryuji** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji** : yo did you get laid again or no?  
**Akira** : ryuji…  
**Ryuji** : what?  
**Ryuji** : i was joking!  
**Akira** : haha.  
**Akira** : but no.  
**Akira** : despite it being called a date, his words, it was the same stuff we already have done.  
**Akira** : i’m not complaining.  
**Akira** : but i’m wondering if he was calling it a date because i was teasing him.  
**Ryuji** : you should have just got your mack on bro  
**Akira** : :|  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** YUSUKE KITAGAWA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:54pm: **Yusuke** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yusuke:** Did things go well today?  
**Akira** : today? no. tonight? meh.  
**Yusuke** : What happened?  
**Akira** : hold on a sec.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ 💐SECRETS ARE HARD💐 _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _10:57pm:_ **Akira __**_has started a new chat group **}**_

**_{_ ** _10:57pm:_ **Akira __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**_{_ ** _10:58pm: **Ryuji Sakamoto** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _10:58pm: **Ryuji Sakamoto** has joined the thread **}**_

**_{_ ** _10:58pm: **Yusuke Kitagawa** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _10:58pm: **Yusuke Kitagawa** has joined the thread **}**_

**Yusuke** : ????  
**Ryuji** : sup dude  
**Akira** : everyone here knows two things.  
**Akira** : actually like, four.  
**Akira** : i am gay.  
**Akira** : i am dumb.  
**Akira** : yusuke and i fucked.  
**Akira** : and i have hanahaki that is slowly killing me that i can’t get rid of even if i got the surgery.  
**Ryuji** : whoa what  
**Akira** : oh. yeah. that part.  
**Akira** : ficus. complex roots. can’t get it out. so i either get loved back or die.  
**Ryuji** : YO WHAT THE FUCK  
**Akira** : yeah.  
**Akira** : NOW you’re up to date.  
**Ryuji** : fuck man  
**Akira** : yusuke are you ok?  
**Yusuke** : I’m trying to figure out what is going on…  
**Akira** : ryuji is very good at keeping time.  
**Akira** : so when i told him i needed an hour and a half before he could come over he showed up maybe half an hour later?  
**Ryuji** : yeah.  
**Akira** : and he saw me carrying in an oxygen tank and the rest is because i can’t keep a secret to save my ass.  
**Ryuji** : i also tried to tell him i love him  
**Akira** : yeah.  
**Akira** : but i blurted out that we had sex before the hanahaki news.  
**Akira** : in short, i’m sorry i sold you out. i promise not to do it again. please don’t be mad.  
**Yusuke** : I’m not mad.  
**Yusuke** : I’m comforted that I’m not the only one who knows about your hanahaki.  
**Yusuke** : Morgana notwithstanding.  
**Ryuji** : hell yeah bro!  
**Ryuji** : we need to figure this shit out  
**Ryuji** : we cant have our leader dying  
**Yusuke** : I agree.  
**Akira** : great you two can conspire with the not-cat while i suck down oxygen.  
**Yusuke** : The news of an oxygen tank worries me.  
**Akira** : it’s just to slow the growth and make sure i’ve actually got good oxygen saturation.  
**Akira** : so i do an hour of this every night before bed and use my inhaler more sporadically.  
**Akira** : i’m going to keep it on me in the bag with mona so he can poke it up at you if i’m completely incapacitated by an attack.  
**Ryuji** : ill put myself between you two when were in a palace  
**Ryuji** : you and akechi i mean  
**Ryuji** : yusuke you take his right ill take left  
**Yusuke** : That would be a good idea.  
**Yusuke** : Acting as a buffer when we’re all together would do good to prevent problems out in the open.  
**Ryuji** : exactly  
**Ryuji** : weve got a plan  
**Akira** : you both are amazing.  
**Ryuji** : we got your back bro  
**Yusuke** : I’ll support you no matter what.  
**Akira** : ;u;  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The next day.

_** ALIBABA ░▀█▀▒██▀ ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _1:36pm: **ALIBABA** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**ALIBABA** : so… you’re dying huh?  
**Akira** : listen. i know you’re all knowing and shit.  
**Akira** : but if you tell me you’re going to blackmail me again, while i’m already being blackmailed, i’m going to kick your door in. >:U  
**ALIBABA** : i’m not!  
**ALIBABA** : i was just… never mind.  
**ALIBABA** : When are you stealing my heart already?  
**Akira** : soon. we have to plot a course to your treasure.  
**ALIBABA** : That makes no sense but I’ll leave it in your hands.  
**Akira** : you promise to deal with medjed once we do this?  
**ALIBABA** : Of course.  
**Akira** : how can i be sure?  
**ALIBABA** : You can’t be.  
**Akira** : that’s kind of a shit answer.  
**ALIBABA** : Hm. Fair point. I know. Wait for it.  
**Akira** : wait for what? < message failed to send. >  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ YUUKI MISHIMA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _2:18pm: **Yuuki** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yuuki** : AKIRA. THIS IS TERRIBLE.  
**Akira** : i’m not helping with more maid shit.  
**Yuuki** : THE PHAN-SITE IS GONE.  
**Yuuki** : ALL MY HARD WORK JUST… VANISHED.  
**Akira** : you look at that all the time huh?  
**Yuuki** : THAT’S NOT THE POINT.  
**Akira** : you’re right. that was insensitive. i’m sorry about the site yuuki.  
**Yuuki** : I’m about to cry.  
**Akira** : ): do you want a hug?  
**Yuuki** : … yes?  
**Akira** : i could prolly be there in an hour?  
**Yuuki** : OH THE SITE IS BACK.  
**Akira** : ok…?  
**Yuuki** : That was weird…  
**Akira** : hm… i think i know what happened.  
**Yuuki** : ????????  
**Akira** : alibaba.  
**Yuuki** : Who?  
**Akira** : don’t worry about it. glad the sight is back.  
**Akira** : site*  
**Yuuki** : Is everything okay?  
**Akira** : questionable. but the point is made alibaba. we’ll get it done.  
**Yuuki** : ?????????????????  
**ALIBABA** : Good.  
**Yuuki** : WHO THE FUCK?!?!?!?  
**Akira** : she won’t answer. just relax. sorry about the site.  
**Yuuki** : I’m so confused. WAIT. Does this have to do with Medjed?  
**Akira** : yes. we’re dealing with it.  
**Yuuki** : Right...  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Crawling through Futaba’s palace was a task none of them were prepared for. First they had to track down a thief who had stolen part of the map for the palace itself. Then there were the many dangers in the pyramid once they were able to get inside. Trap after deadly trap piled on top of waves of powerful shadows. 

The first puzzle they came across to redirect light drew a lot of attention. It was a mural of Futaba being read a letter. As Yusuke tried to piece together the emotion in it voices began to play out,” ‘I should have never had Futaba’,” the voice echoed,” ‘she was always such a bother.’ It seems you caused your mother a great deal of trouble, Futaba-chan. She must have had some kind of maternity neurosis.”

“This is,” Makoto whispered.

“A suicide note reading?” Akechi questioned with a deep frown before the light turned around to destroy the mural and reveal a way through,” I know there was one but I didn’t realize they read it to her…” 

“Why would someone do something like that to a kid?” Akira questioned feeling sick.

“I don’t know, but it’s disgusting. This should have never been presented to her. She’s a child.” Akechi frowned,” Whatever the case we’ll find more information the deeper we go in. Let’s go.” Akechi moved forward to jump down and head toward the door they’d just opened.

The next mural was a little bit more complicated but when the image was complete it showed Wakaba jumping in front of a car. As the party discussed what it meant a voice sounded again,” F-Futaba! You areeeee…” There was nothing else said as the mechanism turned to destroy the mural once again.

“This must be what Futaba remembers hearing before Ishiki fell into the road.” Akechi noted,” Though we can’t be sure here. We have an unreliable narrator.” 

“What do you mean, Crow?” Ryuji questioned. 

“Futaba sees herself as the reason her mother is dead, no? The reasoning for that can be equated to the fact that the police read that note to her and warped her cognition of the events. It’s possible we’ll get more information the further in we go but as of this moment I don’t believe Futaba is at all responsible for her mother’s death.” Akechi reasoned.

“Well, let’s hope that’s the case.” Yusuke folded his arms for a moment before the party set off once more. 

The next mural was an image of Futaba pulling on Wakaba’s clothes begging to be taken on a trip. Wakaba’s words to her daughter were harsh, demanding that Futaba stop being selfish. Akira didn’t like this, he was worried that maybe Wakaba abused Futaba but Sojiro had loved her, could she really be bad? 

Akira looked to Akechi for an opinion but he looked a bit angry. His fists were balled and his expression stoney, whatever was going through his head probably wasn’t something Akira should bring up at this moment. 

The others began to discuss the neurosis once again before Futaba’s shadow appeared before them once again,” I killed my mother, so I must die. That’s why I’m in this tomb.” 

“You can’t rely on your own memories Futaba!” Akechi snapped but the shadow simply repeated that she was going to die and then faded away,” We can’t waste time. She’s fading. You can hear it in her shadow.” Akechi took the lead again.

“Crow relax!” Akira called following after him.

“Her heart might be growing weaker.” Yusuke suggested from behind as they ran up the stairs to the final door. It opened to reveal a caution tape design but it refused to move.

“This door…” Akira looked at it thoughtfully. 

“Are you thinking the same thing, Joker?” Akechi questioned.

“Futaba’s room?” Akira suggested earning a nod before Futaba’s shadow joined them once again to tell them they needed to get Futaba’s permission to enter her room and thus gain access to her treasure.

“Sounds like we’ve hit a stalling point for the day then.” Makoto let out a sigh. Akira wondered if her feet were bothering her still.

“Alright, let’s head out and plan.” Akira motioned for the party to follow him out of the palace. Once they were outside, Akira looked up at Sojiro’s house to wonder how Futaba was doing. Her mother had jumped in front of a car right before Futaba’s eyes and the police presented a suicide note to her to prove that it was Futaba’s fault her mother had died.

It left Akira disgusted but the one to voice their disgust had been Akechi. He was a detective with the police so it had to be hard to see what the ‘protectors of justice and law’ did to a child. The police had never played fair, they all knew it, it was just sickening to see how they’d treat a kid. For Akira the only cop he’s ever trusted was back home that had tried to help him, a man named Dojima but the witness against Akira was just too strong to fight. So even though Dojima had fought for him there was nothing to be done.

“--Kurusu.” Akechi tapped his shoulder to drag Akira’s attention back to present,” We’re heading back to the cafe.” 

“Yeah, sorry.” Akira shook his head to walk with Akechi. The others had already moved on.

“What’s on your mind?” Akechi questioned. 

“Just how the police did that to a child…” Akira motioned vaguely back toward Sojiro’s home,” The suicide note thing.” 

“Ah. Yes.” Akechi looked toward the ground with a deep frown,” I wasn’t around back then, but… I’m sure that kind of corruption is still in the ranks. I bet that whole scene is still a common occurrence… I’m sure it doesn’t make you any more willing to trust the police does it?” 

“Nope.” Akira shook his head,” There’s only… two detectives I trust.” Akira held up a hand with two fingers as he thought. 

“Two?” Akechi raised an eyebrow with a look of mild amusement on his face. 

“Naoto Shirogane and Ryotaro Dojima.” Akira answered, trying to suppress a laugh when Akechi’s expression soured a little,” I guess you too, but can we still really call you a cop with you helping us?” 

“I assure you I’ve never been a _‘cop_.’ Considering the tactics some of them use I don’t think I’d ever like to be one. I think I’ll stick with consulting.” Akechi shook his head,” Shirogane is obvious, but why this Dojima?” 

“He was the only one back home who believed me when I told him I didn’t hurt anyone. He actually fought for me, but with the witness testimony as strong as it was, he was about to lose his job if he didn’t back off. I took a plea bargain so he would stop.” Akira raised his shoulders,” It would stain my record but he wouldn’t lose his job. His daughter was a nice girl, the only person who would talk to me after I got arrested. Mostly because she was bringing her dad bentos but still, she cared. So I didn’t want her dad to lose his job over me.” 

“Every time you tell me another detail from this mess you were thrown into I find that you are even more selfless than the last tale.” Akechi shook his head,” Are you really satisfied like this?” 

“Huh?” Akira paused outside of the cafe to look at Akechi.

“Sacrificing yourself for everyone else. In a fight you throw yourself in front of everyone else to protect them. You spend all of your time worried more about how everyone else is doing. You’ll kill yourself at the rate you go. Is it really worth living as a sacrifice for someone else’s sake rather than your own?” Akechi explained his words.

Akira had to think about that question. He had always been more of a protector type. He put himself into all kinds of messes trying to save other people and Akechi was right, he was probably going to die either because he lept to defend someone, or because he was trying to spare anyone from being forced to watch him die of hanahaki,” I mean… You’re not wrong. I’m fully prepared to accept the fact I’m probably going to die because of something stupid. But I can die with a clear conscience as long as I know I did it trying to save someone from some kind of heartache.” 

“I suppose that selfless nature of yours is what makes you so appealing to people.” Akechi seemed a little irritated,” I do want to say, you should at least care a little more about yourself. It would be very easy to take advantage of a selfless man like you.” Akechi pointed to Akira’s chest to tap over his heart with one finger,” Edward Albert said, ‘Sometimes you have to be selfish to be selfless.’ I think you can take those words to mean you should care about yourself a little more before you care so much about others.” Akechi offered and Akira almost felt as if it were a threat wrapped in a warning. It didn’t make Akira’s heart flutter but instead it made him feel uneasy. He didn’t know why but there was something else in Akechi’s gaze and it nearly sent a visible shudder down Akira’s spine.

“Right.” Akira nodded before Akechi removed his hand and went into the cafe. Akira looked down the street, not really looking for anything, just staring into the distance. After a moment Akira let out a sigh then went inside. 

____________________________________________________________

The following day came time to hand Futaba the calling card the group gathered in the attic to discuss how to actually make that work,” So how are we getting in her room?” Ryuji questioned.

“Even Boss is forbidden entry. This will be difficult.” Yusuke hummed.

“We could coax her.” Akechi suggested. 

“What, like luring out a cat with tuna?” Ann did not look convinced.

“I think we should just tell her the truth. It’s worked so far.” Akira suggested,” If we tell her it’s the best way to steal her heart she might listen.”

“You do have a point. She is a bit resistant to things but once we mention why we need it she becomes more willing to help.” Makoto looked thoughtful,” So we’ll just have to head there and tell her the truth.” 

“I suppose you have a point.” Akechi touched his chin before lowering his hand again,” If we’re in agreement we should depart. We can to make sure we have enough time to do this without Boss catching us loitering around in his home.”

“Right. Last thing we need is our leader getting sent to the big house.” Ryuji teased.

“Anything but that, I’ll die in there.” Akira said dramatically as he hung his head. He caught a look of subtle sadness from Ryuji’s eyes but waved it off,” I’m kidding. Let’s go.” 

Making their way to Futaba’s room was easy enough, but getting her door open was a separate issue. It took waiting and talking for Futaba to finally open up then to actually show up to hand her the calling card.

The fight for the actual treasure was one of the hardest fights they’d had. For most of the fight the monster was out of reach, then Futaba joined them to come to the conclusion that it wasn’t her fault her mother had died. Shortly after the fight was over Futaba left the palace and then things started to break apart again. The only helpful thing for them all was that they were already in the best position to run down the side of the palace and so safety.

____________________________________________________________

“Makoto, thank God you can drive.” Ryuji groaned sitting on the ground outside of Leblanc after the party got out of the Metaverse.

“I don’t want to think about what would have happened if we’d hit one of those rocks.” Akechi added leaning against a wall,” I think… I should reevaluate my summer wardrobe…” 

“The detective prince finally cracks.” Ann joked before Sojiro came out of the store to ask what they were doing.

With some quick thinking on Makoto’s part they were able to distract Sojiro enough to go back inside while Makoto and Akira checked on Futaba.

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _3:06pm: **Kitchen Sink** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Kitchen Sink** : How is her condition?  
**sponge boy:** we found her outside.  
**sponge boy** : we’re having takemi come look at her since she’s passed out cold.  
**The Juicer** : We’ll keep you up to date.  
**The Juicer:** Keep Boss busy a little longer.  
**little spoon** : Got it.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Takemi’s examination of Futaba found nothing wrong with her, but mentioned that Sojiro should be told she was found outside. She suggested someone stay with Futaba while the other go get Sojiro then made a show of looping an arm with Akira’s to lead him out as a volunteer. 

Once outside Takemi faced him,” When you’re free today I’d like you to come by the clinic for another chest xray.” 

“Why?” Akira frowned, did she have to do this here?

“Your blood had some troubling results and I want to see the progress in photo before I say anything.” Takemi explained,” I’ll stay the night there so just make time at some point to come by. I need it as soon as possible.” 

“Alright.” Akira agreed,” Should I still get Sojiro?” 

“Huh? Oh. Like I said she’s mostly fine. Just a little weak for her age, but you did find her outside which is unusual. So you should get him.” Takemi nodded,” Just remember, tonight.” She reminded him once more then left.

“Intense.” Akira rubbed the side of his neck before slowly following after her until they parted in destination and he hurried along to Leblanc,” Sojiro we found Futaba outside and--” 

Sojiro didn’t wait for Akira to finish what he was saying as he ran around the counter to rush home. Everyone else followed after with Akechi exiting the store last and turning the sign to closed while he had the chance. After returning to Futaba’s room everyone squeezed into her room to check her condition.

“Hey, Futaba? Heeeeey?” Sojiro shook her lightly but she didn’t respond. 

“Did we mess up?” Ryuji questioned Yusuke quietly, who only shook his head.

“Oh dear…” Sojiro let out a sigh as he stood back up. He looked around the room as the party’s concerned expressions before he got confused,” Whoa now, why do you guys all look so down?”

“Futaba’s condition is…” Makoto tried to start explaining what she could but would they even be able to explain this at all? Was it even their fault? 

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about this. She gets like this every so often. She’s like a battery sometimes in the way that she’ll exhaust herself then pass out for a few days. After she’s recharged she’ll be alright.” Sojiro explained and Akira could almost hear some amusement in his voice,” But you found her outside?” 

“We did. Right in front of the house.” Akira explained. 

“She hasn’t gone outside in a long time…” Sojiro smiled,” I’m glad she tried it.” 

“Perhaps she’s had enough of being in here.” Akechi offered.

“Maybe. Keep an eye on her for me? I’m going to go close up the shop.” Sojiro said as he moved toward the door,” I’ll probably keep it closed a few days so you better not get out of hand there.” Sojiro warned Akira before he finally left.

“Well, with that taken care of… what about Medjed? If she doesn’t wake up and deal with it we’re gunna be screwed.” Ryuji frowned.

“We still have almost a month before Medjed tries to ‘cleanse’ Japan.” Akechi reminded the group,” We’ll be alright. For now I think our best option is to just wait until she’s feeling well enough to help.” 

“He has a point.” Akira looked at Futaba. She was small in stature and light in weight. She was Boss' daughter and because of that Akira was feeling a bit protective,” Let’s just enjoy summer for a while. When it starts getting closer to the midnight hour we’ll worry about it then.” 

“Man,” Ryuji let out a frustrated groan,” This sucks. I hate waiting.” 

“That’s too bad.” Ann frowned,” Well, nothing else to do here. Should we call it a day once Boss comes back?” 

“Not everyone has to wait here, you guys go on ahead.” Akira waved at them,” Good work today.”

“I’d argue with you but I’m rather tired and I have an interview tomorrow about this Medjed business.” Akechi said before he moved to the door. Slowly the team started to leave until just Akira, Morgana, and Yusuke were left.

“I’m going to wait for Boss.” Akira told Yusuke. 

“I thought you might like the extra company.” Yusuke looked around the room,” This room is a mess.”

“Yeah.” Akira pushed a bit of trash aside,” Maybe I’ll raid the room and clean it for her one of these days. Sojiro might appreciate it.” 

“Indeed.” Yusuke’s eyes were on Akira now,” While we’re here...” 

“You’re mad about me telling Ryuji we had sex?” Akira drove right into the topic.

“I’m not mad. Just confused.” Yusuke folded his arms, he opened his mouth to say something else but Akira spoke first.

“I was tired and he was frustrating me talking about us dating.” Akira explained,” Everyone kept talking about it and I don’t need it.” Akira pushed a bit of paper aside with his foot before bending down to start picking up a few things,” I’ve got more than enough to stress about without worrying about a misunderstanding ruining my chance at liv--”

“Let him talk Akira.” Morgana cut in, his tail swishing clearly displaying his annoyance.

“I understand how you’re feeling,” Yusuke nodded,” I don’t mean to upset you. I’m just worried about you because, like you said, you’re stressing out about a lot of things.” Yusuke touched Akira’s shoulder to get him to stop picking up papers,” Morgana and I have talked about it and we want to suggest something but we didn’t want to do it in front of everyone if the idea was too suspicious.”

“Idea?” Akira paused his cleaning to look at him.

“We want to suggest a second in command of sorts.” Morgana explained,” Someone else who can delegate things to help you so you’re not about to lose your mind at the drop of a pin.”

Akira stared at Yusuke the Morgana for a long while before he hummed in agreement,” That might be the best idea. Do you… have a suggestion?” 

“Honestly? Akechi. He and you are similar in the ways you think, and even though when he was new to fighting shadows he was on par with any of us, maybe stronger. But I think we need to put it to a vote, and it might be best you suggest it yourself.” Yusuke released Akira’s shoulder at last,” The next best person would be Makoto if you’re uncertain about Akechi with all things considered.” 

“I would have suggested myself but I can’t move around as freely as you and the others can. This cat form is a huge hindrance for that.” Morgana explained.

“Yeah…” Akira nodded,” Okay. Thank you for suggesting it. I don’t know that I would have considered it.” 

“It’s alright, just worry a little more about your health.” Yusuke offered Akira a hug. Akira didn’t wait long to accept the hug and return it,” You’ll be alright.”

“Yeah.” Akira nodded.

“I’m back!” Sojiro’s voice called from the front. 

“I’ve got to see Takemi, but I’ll walk with you until her clinic.” Akira motioned for Yusuke to move first. As they moved to put their shoes on Akira paused to stare at a pair of loafers still resting on the floor. Was someone else still here? He twisted around to look back wondering if he should go look. He wished he paid more attention to shoes to know who they belonged to.

“You better get going. I gotta make dinner and make sure Futaba eats something.” Sojiro spoke,” I’m going to ask you to run the shop for a bit tomorrow since I’m expecting a package.” 

“Sure. I can make half decent coffee.” Akira stood, dismissing the shoes they might have been Sojiro’s spares or something. Perhaps instead he was just hoping no one had stayed around to listen to him and Yusuke.

“Don’t sell yourself short, you make a pretty good cup now.” Sojiro smirked,” Just don’t throw a party, and close up by noon. Don’t overwork yourself.” Sojiro gave a leveled stare making a point he was talking about Akira’s hanahaki.

“Alright, let me know how she does?” Akira motioned up to Futaba's room.

“I can do that. Now you two get out. Go have fun somewhere.” Sojiro waved them out.

“I don’t know about fun…” Akira laughed it off as he and Yusuke left the house.

“You’re going to your doctor, right?” Yusuke questioned,” Would you like company?” 

“No, it’s fine. If she has bad news for me I don’t want you getting upset about it.” Akira teased,” I’ll keep you up to date on what she tells me though. Promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that promise.” Yusuke tried to put on a smile but it didn’t really happen. He’s worried, Akira knows it, he just doesn’t know how to handle someone else worrying about him.

Akira walked with Yusuke until the turn off for the clinic then made his way into Takemi’s clinic with Morgana. She wasn’t anywhere in sight when he arrived but there was a note and a key on the table for him to lock up behind him before meeting her in the exam room. After doing as he was told Akira moved to find her,” I’m here.” 

“How’s Futaba-chan?” Takemi opened with.

“She’s alright. Sojiro said she does this sometimes and just to give her a few days.” Akira explained,” You wanted to get a look at my chest?” 

“Yes. I’ll have you change and we’ll get an x-ray.” Takemi explained as she passed Akira a gown,” Does Futaba-chan have something to do with your Phantom Thieves work?” 

“Not sure yet.” Akira chewed his bottom lip,” We helped her today though. I hope. We’ll have to wait for her to wake up.” 

“For what it’s worth I hope you did. That girl doesn’t deserve to suffer.” Takemi smiled before stepping out to get her machine ready.

Once the x-ray was done and Akira was back in his normal clothes Takemi spoke with him,” Can you wait here while I develop this?” 

“You do it here?” Akira questioned as he pulled on his overshirt.

“I set it up to after the last one so I can get your results quickly.” Takemi admitted,” I took classes on it too. Be grateful I care this much about you.” Takemi smiled to show she was teasing before stepping out.

Akira sat back in on the bed as he waited for Takemi to return. He thought of Yusuke's suggestion of a second in command and wondered if it would be a good idea. He didn’t want to come off as weak but there was a lot to do and their group was getting bigger,” Fuck it.” Akira muttered as he took out his phone.

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _5:28pm: **sponge boy** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**sponge boy:** i’m calling for a meeting tomorrow.  
**The Juicer:** Is something wrong with Futaba?  
**sponge boy** : no. this isn’t about her.  
**sponge boy:** i don’t want to detail it now but i need to talk about something important.  
**potato masher** : is it about what i think?  
**sponge boy** : absolutely not.  
**potato masher** : ok  
**cake pan:** ?????  
**sponge boy:** it’s a bro thing don’t worry about that.  
**sponge boy:** if we can meet up by noon that would be cool.  
**sponge boy: __** _@Kitchen Sink_ can you make it?  
**Kitchen Sink:** If we push it to three I can.  
**sponge boy:** anyone opposed?  
**little spoon:** I can make it.  


_** 💐SECRETS ARE HARD💐 ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _5:32pm:_ **Ryuji __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji** : so the meeting tomorrow isnt about the hanahaki?  
**Akira** : No.  
**Akira** : It’s something else.  
**Akira** : Please don’t even tease toward it in chats with everyone.  
**Ryuji** : sorry  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**The Juicer** : I’ll be there.  
**cake pan:** i’ll be there!  
**potato masher** : count on me  
**sponge boy** : great. three o’ clock. see you guys there.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

“If Ryuji can’t keep his mouth shut I’ll kill him.” Morgana complained watching the conversation,” It’s a wonder half of your school doesn’t know you guys are the Phantom Thieves yet!”

“I know.” Akira gave Morgana a pet.

“I’m back.” Takemi announced walking through the door,” It’s as I thought.” 

“What’s the prognosis?” Akira asked with amusement in his tone as Morgana hid back in his bag.

“Your garden has gotten bigger,” Takemi slapped up the x-ray to the backlight,” You can see the flowers clearly here,” Takemi pointed around the middle of his chest at the clear definition of flowers in mid bloom there. Were those because of Akechi earlier today? “-and then down here, the roots are very dark.” Takemi looked to Akira,” Your timeline has moved up dramatically.” 

“Will I last ‘till Christmas?” Akira asked. 

“You’ll be lucky to make it to December at this rate.” Takemi explained,” I can’t put an exact date on it, but I’d estimate by the first week you’ll have to be hospitalized.” 

“Hey… do you know if getting rejected or accepted works over text?” Akira asked a bit sullenly. 

“If you’re in the middle of a death bloom, an acceptance won’t work.” Takemi shook her head,” But also your roots are so dense that even if you were accepted you’ll need help getting it out when it comes up. I’m worried that the roots will shred your esophagus coming out. I’m hoping that they’re fine hair roots and not thick tree-like roots, but with how dark it is… I feel like they might be thick.” 

“If they come up.” Akira added,” How long do I have before I start having trouble with physical tasks?” 

“Honestly, I would send a note to your school now to remove you from physical activities and would limit any running around.” Takemi explained,” You’re going to have more trouble breathing as time goes on and I wouldn’t be surprised if you start to cough up flowers covered in blood.” 

“Good thing they’re already red.” Akira sighed,” Okay, uh, is there… _anything_ you can give me to slow this? Even if it’s not approved. I can’t exactly avoid physical activities. Not with my side work.”

“I… could give you something.” Takemi chewed her bottom lip,” It’ll make things much more bloody coming out, and it’ll cause severe insomnia episodes with hard crashes. But it might push you to last another month.”

“Sounds highly illegal.” Akira nodded,” I’ll take it. I need as much time as I can get.” 

“Part of me wants you to take the shot with that boy, but I also want you to live longer if it’s all lost.” Takemi sighed,” Let me get the drugs. I doubt you’ll get much sleep tonight if you take them but the sooner you start, the better.” 

“The mantra of my life right now.” Akira sighed, rubbing a hand over his face before taking off his glasses. He needed to get his eyes checked, though if they were going was there a point in trying to correct his vision? What was the point of a lot of things?

_** 💐SECRETS ARE HARD💐 ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _6:02pm:_ **Akira __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : so good news, i have new meds that’ll keep me at peak performance.  
**Ryuji** : bad news?  
**Akira** : my timeline has moved up.  
**Akira** : expected it since i’ve been spending so much time with akechi but it’s kind of how this has to go if i have a shot right?  
**Yusuke** : How much time do you have now?  
**Akira** : december.  
**Akira** : with my new shiny meds.  
**Akira** : which are going to have interesting side effects.  
**Ryuji** : like what?  
**Akira** : well, apparently i’ll be sleeping less.  
**Akira** : i’ll just have more time to make lockpicks and study.  
**Yusuke** : Akira that doesn’t sound safe.  
**Ryuji** : yeah im with yusuke  
**Ryuji** : what is this crap youre taking?  
**Akira** : it doesn’t have a name.  
**Akira** : takemi made it herself.  
**Akira** : she’s been working on what kind of meds could actually fix me and this is the closest she’s gotten.  
**Akira** : so i might be funny tomorrow.  
**Yusuke** : …  
**Ryuji** : bro  
**Akira** : this is why we’re having that meeting tomorrow.  
**Akira** : so look forward to that.  
**Ryuji** : wat?  
**Akira** : stress.  
**Ryuji** : oh  
**Akira** : i’m going to leek up good excuses for looking like shit.  
**Akira** : *look  
**Ryuji** : :|  
**Yusuke** : I don’t think you need excuses.  
**Yusuke** : Just… try to rest?  
**Akira** : i will.  
**Akira** : oh right. i found an old tablet at that thrift shop for mona to use. so he can chat.  


_**{** 6:20pm: **Morgana Kurusu** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _6:20pm: **Morgana Kurusu** has joined the thread **}**_

**Yusuke** : Kurusu?  
**Akira** : he’s like my not-a-pet-totes-a-little-brother friend.  
**Morgana** : zzzzzzzzzzzzzz____  
**Morgana** : rtttttttttttttttttttttyyu  
**Akira** : so now the not-cat can chat instead of breathing down my neck.  
**Ryuji** : “chat”  
**Morgana** : aaaaaaaaa  
**Ryuji** : when are you gunna add him to the group?  
**Akira** : tomorrow. i don’t wanna do it tonight.  
**Yusuke** : I suggest heading to bed early. We were very busy today.  
**Akira** : 👍  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

________________________________________________________

Akira did not listen to Yusuke’s suggestion. Instead his new medication did just as Takemi said and kept him up all night. Rather than waste time laying in bed with nothing to do, Akira went down into the cafe to do some deep cleaning. Sojiro was going to be surprised to say the least. The floors were shiny enough to see reflections in and the fridge looked pretty much new after he cleaned it. He was working on cleaning the freezer when Morgana found him. 

“You’re going to wear yourself out like this.” Morgana said flatly.

“Maybe,” Akira paused to look at him before going back to work,” but I have a plan.”

“Which is?” Morgana’s ear twitched, was he annoyed?

“Wear myself out with manual labor and then nap.” Akira explained pulling out a severely freezer burned package from the back. He didn’t know what it was but it was probably no good. He threw it into the garbage as he kept cleaning out the frost buildup,” Oh there’s gelato back here.” 

“Akira, I’m worried about you.” Morgana admitted. 

“I know, I appreciate you and the others for worrying about me, but I don’t have a lot of options.” Akira shook his head looking at the gelato trying to figure out how old it was.

“Of course you have options. You can explain to Akechi you can get hanahaki. He’s smart, he can put things together without you saying anything more!” Morgana was almost desperate sounding.

“Yes, but I could easily die. It’s hard to read him. I can’t--” 

“Trust him?” Morgana questioned and it hit Akira right in the chest,” If you can’t trust him how do you feel about the suggestion of making him a co-leader? If he were to accept.” 

“It’s… not that.” Akira frowned but maybe it was. What was it that made him uncomfortable?

“Listen, I can’t push you to do it yourself, but I’ll be honest with you, when it gets closer to November I’m going to tell him myself.” Morgana spoke firmly, making Akira snap his head to look at him,” It’ll be the last chance you have to say something to him, and I’m not going to just sit there and watch you suffer then die for nothing.”

“Mona, don’t.” Akira frowned.

“For now I won’t, but I reserve the right to change my mind later.” Morgana’s tail moved slowly behind him before he stood up to jump from his chair and head back upstairs only pausing to say,” I’ll save you from yourself if I have to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so for those of you who noticed i have been using scenes from like... a lot of places not just the game. the 'date' at the start of the chapter is something that happens in the anime but not the game. this might happen....a few times... anyway. uhh. 
> 
> there is a very strong reason why akechi reacts the way he does to all of the stuff involving futaba. but you won't find out about why for like... months. and i mean that in fic update time not 'game time' bc of how i've been updating. that said i'm probably nearly done actually writing this fic so i'll be updating more faithfully on that twice weekly scheduled. if i don't it'll be like. nearly a full year before i update all of this. i have so many chapters guys.
> 
> now for the part i'm having the most fun with, the idea of making akechi a co-leader for the group. akira is sick. the hanahaki isn't just a funny haha flower thing. so he can't handle everything like he normally could in game and it's showing. so yusuke wants to make sure akira doesn't run himself into the ground and out of everyone akechi is the best choice. not only so he and akira spend more time together to maybe make it work, but also because akechi has the brain for it.
> 
> final note, as said above akira's really pushing himself to try and make being a leader work so trying to stamp down as much of hanahaki as he. so if he can do that by taking highly questionable medication that keeps him up at all hours and makes his coughs more bloody its the least troubling thing he can do. akira is going to make takami go gray at this rate.
> 
>  ~~i didn't forget about a preview don't look at me.~~  
>  preview: __  
> “If it makes your dreams less terrifying, I wouldn’t tell you I hate you. You interest me, Kurusu.” Akechi smiled. “I like to keep interesting people around.”


	15. fireworks are common in summer romances right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the phantom thieves choose a co-leader so akira can feel marginally less stressed out. futaba takes care of medjed while the leaders clean her room, and the party plans a beach trip. before the beach futaba has a plan for akechi and akira instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sup everyone. it's summer i got my hat on backwards and i'm here to fuckin' party.

The following afternoon the party met up at Leblanc as agreed. Once the last of them arrived Akira tossed around how to say what Yusuke had suggested to him last night. It wasn’t easy now that he had everyone looking at him. Part of him wanted to just say it was a Mementos day and skip past anything embarrassing. 

“Kurusu, you look tired.” Akechi spoke up when the silence dragged out. “Are you okay?” 

“Fine.” Akira lied probably too quickly. It was so automatic to say he was fine. Akira let out a sigh before he rubbed the back of his neck. “I want to make a suggestion and it’s kind of hard to make it because of how it might sound?” 

“We won’t know until you say.” Makoto commented trying to sound encouraging but really it came off as a bit harsh. 

Akira sighed,” Okay. Um, I want to suggest a co-leader for the group.” Akira’s eyes were fixed on the table. “There’s a lot of us, and with the way I am, I’m stretched thin between school, social connections, and trying to keep our gear up-to-date.” 

“It is a lot for one person.” Makoto touched her chin thoughtfully.

“Yeah, I was wondering how you manage it.” Ann crossed her legs. “I’m all for having another person to help ease it off you.” 

“Your mental health is important.” Yusuke nodded.

“Who do you want to take over?” Ryuji put his manga down.

“It’s not a take over.” Akira shook his head. “It’s sharing the load.”

“Who did you have in mind for this task?” Akechi asks next and Akira feels all the determination drop out of him. He suddenly doesn’t want to do this anymore but he’s already started. 

“Um.” Akira chews his lip. How weird would it be to directly ask Akechi? Pretty weird. He can’t do this.

“It might be better to put it to a vote.” Yusuke cut in. “Just have everyone write a name on a paper and then we count from that?”

“Majority vote,” Makoto nodded,” it would be better to ask who would want to accept the responsibility before we do that. How about a raise of hands for those interested?” Makoto looked around to everyone and Akira could have kissed her. Why were his friends actually the best? “So then, let’s have a show of hands.” Makoto suggested and for a moment no one raised their hands. No one seemed to want to. Akira hadn’t really sold the idea of being a leader as a good thing, but it still kind of hurt that no one wanted to help him.

“If no one will throw in their hat I will.” Akechi spoke, raising a hand. “Even though I’ve said I’m not technically one of you I realize the need for someone else to be able to ease some of the burden since it seems none of you will.”

“I-I was going to offer!” Ryuji spoke up indignantly. “I just thought maybe someone like Makoto was a better fit.”

“There’s a risk my sister could find out if I were to start doing things that deviate from the norm. As it is I’m studying for my entrance exams and I’m the student council president. I would accept if I didn’t have one of those things also on my plate.” Makoto explained. 

“Honestly, the rest of us aren’t cut out for it.” Ann twirled the end of her hai. “Ryuji doesn’t have the brain for it, Yusuke is… Yusuke, Mona is a cat,” Morgana made a sound like he was going to argue but just gave up before he could start,” and I wouldn’t know the first place to start with any of this. Akechi-kun you and Akira are pretty similar. You’re honestly the best fit. _Official_ member or not.” 

“Well put Ann.” Yusuke agreed.

“Is there anyone opposed?” Makoto looked around the table. When no one offered any resistance Makoto looked to Akechi. “Do you accept?” 

“I suppose I don’t have much choice.” Akechi shook his head.

“If you’re too busy you don’t have to,” Akira said,” it was just an idea.” 

“It’s a good idea. I’m rather good at managing my time and I don’t have anyone I live with who would cause trouble if I were to stay up late or have odd weapons in my apartment.” Akechi explained. “You’ll still be in charge of most decisions, but I’ll take over smaller things.”

“Okay,” Akira smiled,” thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” 

_______________________________________________________________

The end of July was uneventful. Sojiro returned to the shop saying Futaba was still mostly sleeping all day but seemed to be perking up a little. Akira on the other hand felt like any sleep he was missing seemed to somehow transfer to Futaba. He would sleep a few hours every couple days and usually after he slept he woke up feeling out of sorts and like his chest was congested. He was coughing up petals again at least. Though when he looked at them in his hand or in the sink they had blood on them. It was what Takemi said would happen, but he was back to petals so it was fine.

It was well into the second week of August when Akechi made the suggestion they go to Futaba to try and remind her of her promise. Banks were reporting outages and people were connecting literally every network error ever to Medjed. The people were getting wound up and it was causing a lot of drama on the Phan-Site. So, with little choice Akira went with Akechi and Morgana to Sojiro’s house.

However as they approached the house the trio caught sight of Futaba closing the gate to the house. She paused to stare at them with unblinking eyes before she seemed to suddenly remember something. “Oooooh, right. Medjed,” Futaba said, then moved to head back inside,” come in.”

“At least she remembers?” Akechi wondered out loud before they followed her inside as they were asked.

Once they were in Futaba’s room she sat at her computer and started to type away at her PC. “Alright _Medjed_ let’s see,” Futaba paused to glance at Akira,” how do we cook them?” 

“It’s up to you.” Akechi motioned.

“I’d say eliminate them…” Akira muttered. 

“Ha. Violent much?” Futaba seemed amused by Akira’s suggestion.

“We don’t have much time left, are you sure you can do this?” Morgana asked from Akira’s bag as he climbed out then onto Futaba’s bed.

“Whoa!” Futaba spun her chair around to look at Morgana,” the kitty talked?! Am I still asleep?” 

“You are very much awake,” Akechi shook his head,” we’ll explain him later, for now we need Medjed dealt with.” 

“R-right. Okay.” Futaba turned back to her computer. “I guess it doesn’t really matter. Not the weirdest thing to happen to me now, time to get cracking.” Futaba laced her fingers together in front of her to push out with them and crack a few before getting to work on her computer. 

The minutes dragged onto an hour with Futaba tapping away at her computer. Unable to just sit around and do nothing, Akira started to pick up Futaba’s room. He was careful to organize the articles on the floor into neat piles. When he turned to stack the books properly Akechi had started to work on them. They shared a simple nod with one another before working silently to clean up Futaba’s room. It didn’t take them long to clean everything up but Futaba was still going strong.

“It’s a good thing I cleared my schedule today.” Akechi checked his watch before he sat next to Akira on Futaba’s bed. “Do you think she’s nearly done?” 

“I hope so.” Akira mumbled tiredly before slumping his body against Akechi’s body. He was too tired to even care what he was doing at this point. 

“Are you going to sleep?” Akechi questioned him. 

“Just a little nap.” Akira mumbled with his head against Akechi’s shoulder.

“Move back this way.” Akechi ordered, helping Akira shuffle back until his back was against the drawers on the side of her bed. Once Akechi had him stable he leaned back against them as well, letting Akira use his side as a pillow while he took out a book to read. Hours more passed before Futaba threw her hands up over her head with the effort sound of stretching.

“I’m done!” Fataba basically shouted waking Morgana up from his light doze. Akira cracked an eye open, not quite ready to actually lift his head up, he was comfortable. “Whoa, it’s so clean. Why?” 

“We cleaned it.” Morgana answered.

“It was something to do.” Akechi added, closing his book. “You took care of Medjed?” 

“I handled them, and you guys handled my room. Cute.” Futaba grinend turning her chair around to snap a picture of the three on her bed. “That’s a keeper.” 

“If you’re done…” Akechi said dryly then reached a hand around to Akira’s shoulder to shake him awake,” wake up.” 

“I’m awake.” Akira muttered, pulling himself back from Akechi’s shoulder to rub under his eye. “You’re sure you did it?” 

“Yep.” Futaba tapped on her phone before turning it toward them to show the Medjed site with the display of a Phantom Thieves logo right on the front. “Now, get off my bed, I need to recharge.” 

“Right.” Akira wiggled forward to stand just in time for Futaba to throw herself forward onto it once Akechi and Morgana vacated the space. “Thanks Futaba.” 

“Night night.” Futaba nuzzled into her pillow.

“I think we’re done here.” Akechi looked at Akira. “Let’s get out of here before Boss comes home.” 

“Right.” 

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _7:14pm: **Kitchen Sink** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Kitchen Sink** : Medjed has been taken care of.  
**cake pan** : seriously?  
**potato masher** : futaba finally woke up?  
**sponge boy** : she went back to bed after but yeah.  
**Kitchen Sink** : She showed us the site. She slapped a Phantom Thieves logo over it.  
**Kitchen Sink** : From a cursory look online it seems like it’s inaccessible beyond the logo and information on a man in Ota.  
**Kitchen Sink** : From what I can gather from my contacts it might be a man related to Medjed.  
**The Juicer:** So Futaba really kept her promise.  
**sponge boy** : yep.  
**potato masher** : hell yeah!  
**Kitchen Sink** : Let’s meet up tomorrow to talk about what our next move is. Medjed is dealt with at least, so we can probably go deeper into Mementos as well.  
**The Juicer:** You make a good point, the shadows in Futaba’s palace were very strong.  
**potato masher** : like training?  
**potato masher** : cant we take a few days to just have some fun?  
**potato masher** : summer break is almost over!!  
**Kitchen Sink** : I suppose you have a point.  
**sponge boy** : beach. trip.  
**sponge boy** : hot. men.  
**little spoon** : Akira your thirst...  
**sponge boy** : 🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤  
**Kitchen Sink** : How do you type things like that with such a straight face?  
**cake pan** : it’s like reading something funny and instead of laughing you just akl;gasdglkhsd  
**sponge boy** : yes. exactly.  
**cake pan** : it’s a gay thing.  
**sponge boy** : it’s a bottom thing.  
**cake pan** : you got me there. asdgklhasdlkg  
**sponge boy** : dkl;ajsdgkl  
**cake pan:** if we got to the beach can i bring shiho?  
**sponge boy** : YES. i miss her.  
**The Juicer** : How is Suzui-san?  
**cake pan** : good! she’s doing a lot better at her new school and even the opener for her team.  
**cake pan** : all on her own work. she’s a lot happier.  
**cake pan** : and…. well……………………………….  
**cake pan** : we’re dating!  
**sponge boy** : 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉  
**The Juicer** : Congrats!  
**potato masher** : oh hell yea!  
**little spoon** : 🎉  
**Kitchen Sink** : Happy to hear.  
**cake pan** : thanks! :D  
**sponge boy** : we can meet tomorrow and you can tell me how you asked her out.  
**cake pan** : it’s so cheesy though!  
**sponge boy** : i need tips. you’ve seen what happens when i try to flirt/ask someone out.  
**cake pan** : you got me there.... OKAY! i’ll do it!  
**sponge boy** : thank you ann. my dearest gal pal.  
**cake pan** : as;klashdgl;  
**Kitchen Sink** : How about we meet at Leblanc at ten?  
**sponge boy** : sounds like a plan. see you guys tomorrow.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

“Well,” Akechi looked up from his phone to Akira,” I think that I’ll call it a night then.” 

“It’s almost a shame for you to leave then come right back tomorrow morning.” Morgana spoke from his perch. “You could stay the night.” 

“As tempting as it would be to start my morning with the coffee here, I have to go home. I need to change my clothes.” Akechi pulled at the front of the red short sleeve polo he’d decided to wear after they finished the palace. 

“Too bad, Akira actually slept with you around. He’ll probably stay up all night detailing the floor or making another fifty lockpicks.” Morgana sighed before Akira caught the poor cat right in the face with his pillow.

“He’s full of shit. Don’t listen to him.” Akira glared at Morgana. “I sleep just fine.” 

“Are you sure though?” Akechi glanced at Akira. “You’ve been developing bags under your eyes for the last few weeks.” 

“It’s just been nightmares.” Akira dismissed. “I’m fine.” 

“Nightmares?” Akechi leaned back as he crossed his legs. “Want to tell me about them?” 

“Not really…” Akira looked away from Akechi but he didn’t move,” You’re really going to wait for me to spill?” 

“I’d hope you felt you can trust me enough to tell me.” Akechi clasped his hands together. “I heard once that telling someone else about your nightmares helps them stop. Kind of like sharing the burden.” 

Akira stared at Akechi with concern in his expression before he let out a sigh. He didn’t want to tell Akechi about his nightmares that he hadn’t actually had for a few weeks but here he was,” I keep having nightmares about hanahaki.” Akira said at last. “I’ll sleep for a while then end up in a dream where I’m always with a different person. Their face is scratched out but I can hear who they are? I never remember the conversation we have but I always hear the words ‘ _I hate you_ ’ and suddenly I can’t breathe.” Akira placed a hand over his chest as he paused for a moment thinking about his very real nightmare prior. “Then up come flowers, after that I wake up.” 

“Are you capable of getting hanahaki?” Akechi asks with a serious expression.

“Uh,” Akira was starting to panic suddenly. Should he tell the truth? No. Akechi already dealt with the fact that his mother got it constantly. He didn’t need to worry about Akira too,” nah, well… I don’t think so?” Akira decided to go with as noncommittal an answer as he dares to. “My parents don’t talk to me anymore so if it’s something I can get I don’t know. You’d think it would be important enough to put in a medical file your guardian would get or something, right?” Akira shrugged. “I think not knowing is what is kind of terrifying. I wasn’t even thinking about it until I saw another news report about someone else dying to their hanahaki and then it went off the rails.” 

“I see.” Akechi touched his chin. “You could get a test done I think. Or maybe I could do something.” 

“Do something?” Akira raised an eyebrow. 

“I’m a detective, Kurusu. I could call to ask about you without it seeming too overly suspicious.” Akechi explained. “Just a simple ‘we’re trying to check all of our boxes and we need to know of any medical issues your son might experience that aren’t on the file’ or something to that extent.” 

“Ah,” Akira sounded. It was almost perfect and Akira had to curse that Akechi had a really good plan that fast. “I’ll keep trying to talk to them before resorting to that. If anything I might just end up in love and find out the hard way.” Akira laughed nervously. “Please don’t poke around on your own again. I’ll figure it out and let you know.”

“As you wish. I sincerely hope it’s not something you can get.” Akechi stood. “If it makes your dreams less terrifying, I wouldn’t tell you I hate you. You interest me, Kurusu.” Akechi smiled. “I like to keep interesting people around.” Akechi spoke and Akira’s throat tightened around something threatening to come up. “I’m going to head home. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Akechi picked up his briefcase and gave Morgana a pat on the head before he left.

Once the bell rang downstairs Akira curled up on his bed with a hand over his mouth as he began to cough again. He could hear Morgana running around the room before he jumped onto the bed to push Akira’s inhaler into his hand. Once Akira pushed out a few petals he took a deep breath with his inhaler. It didn’t stop the attack though and he began to wheeze until a rather large full bloom scraped its way out of Akira’s throat to land on the floor in time for Sojiro to come check on him. He’d apparently been pretty loud.

“Damn it, don’t scare me like that.” Sojiro berated Akira after checking if he was still breathing. “I thought you were dying up here.” 

“Sorry,” Akira said, his voice shot from the flower that tore its way out of his lungs,” it’s huge.” Akira looked down at it before he picked it up. It was a rather large bloom, fully open with lots of leaves, did this open up because of Akechi being understanding?

“Look,” Sojiro picked at some of the bottom with a pen from his apron pocket,” some roots. What happened?” 

“He said he wouldn’t tell me he hates me.” Akira explained as he lifted the flower up to look at it a little from the bottom. The roots were a little thick and when Akira touched them they were stiff. Was this what hurt his throat? He tossed that question out the window when it processed properly that these were roots,” so some came out?” 

“I guess so,” Sojiro hummed,” I don’t know enough about this ficus stuff to give you an answer about how it comes up, but my guess is that you’re starting to really believe that it’s possible so your body is pushing out the bigger blooms to get them out of the way. How do your lungs feel?” 

Akira took a deep breath and found that he felt much less congested,” I feel pretty good?” Akira looked up to Sojiro. 

“Good, get some sleep. I’m going to close up early. You look like shit.” 

“Thanks _dad._ ” Akira rolled his eyes.

“Haha. If that’s the case what an ungrateful son I have.” Sojiro chuckled. “Give me that. I’ll toss it out,” he motioned at the flower,” just clean up the mess before you sleep. You don’t want a blood stain on the floor when your friends come over.”

“Okay,” Akira nodded and passed the flower to Sojiro,” thanks Sojiro.” However once Sojiro was gone Akira laid down. He just meant to rest a little but instead he passed out and didn’t wake up for the rest of the night. 

____________________________________________________________________

The following morning Akira was woken by someone shaking him softly. When he finally opened his eyes Yusuke was stood over him,” Good, you got some sleep.” 

“What time is it?” Akira groaned as he sat up. He hadn’t managed to clean up the blood and his bed head was everywhere. 

“Half past ten.” Yusuke answered. "I came early to speak with Boss and look at my mother’s painting. I’d let you sleep more but others will start to show up soon.” 

“Thank you Yusuke for being the actual best.” Akira mumbled. "I gotta clean up.” 

“I see the dried blood in your hand.” Yusuke turned Akira’s palm up. "What happened?” 

“A good thing I think? I dunno. But there’s blood on the floor too and I look like hell.” Akira moved to stand up. 

“I’ll help.” Yusuke said before heading down stairs, careful to make sure Akria didn’t stumble down as he got to the bottom. They parted then as Akira used the bathroom to get cleaned up and Yusuke borrowed some cloth and cleaner to take back up to his room. Once they were both finished the two of them sat at the table to wait for everyone else to show up. Akechi was next to show up. He took a seat next to Akira and looked him over.

“How’d you sleep last night?” Akechi asked Akira as if he already knew the answer. Had Akechi figured him out? God he hoped not.

“Good… thanks.” Akira mumbled, not quite meeting his eyes.

“Think nothing of it.” Akechi smiled before the bell rang again announcing Ryuji and Ann’s arrival then Makoto. "Looks like everyone is here.” 

“As long as you kids don’t get too loud you can stay for a while.” Sojiro shook his head before the news cut in loudly detailing the Medjed story. "Isn’t that the group everyone’s been getting uppity about?” 

“Well, that’s good news.” Akechi chuckled as everyone else around the table exchanged little smiles and giggles.

“Alright enough of the creepy giggling. You’re going to scare away all my customers.” Sojiro warned the group. 

“But, uh, Boss?” Ryuji looked around. "You don’t have any customers.” Sojiro sputtered to offer an excuse that his customers were also on vacation and told Ryuji to shut up. "That reminds me, our break’s almost over! We gotta do something!” 

“Beach. Trip.” Akira repeated what he had said last night in chat. 

“I want to talk about something before we make a plan about that,” Makoto leaned across the table,” like that research.” she whispered shortly before the shop bell announced another person walking in. Everyone looked up in time to see Futaba walk in. "Oh! Good morning Futaba!” 

Futaba made a sound of alarm before putting herself nearest she could to where Akira and Akechi sat, hiding behind the two of them. The suggestion to head upstairs to talk had Futaba rush up there first. Akechi exchanged a look with Akira before the group all made their way after her. 

Once everyone sat down they looked at Futaba but she turned away from them, pointedly refusing to talk with them yet,” Well, why don’t we discuss what you wanted to, Makoto-chan?” Akechi suggested.

“The research?” Makoto confirmed. "I’m not sure where to start. As far in terms of cognitions we’ve only ever come across people acting as slaves to the palace ruler. The fact that Futaba’s mother was so strong makes me wonder what else is possible. I wish we could have asked her how far she was in her research.” 

“Sae-san collected whatever she could from Boss to find out about it. She’s smart. She’s already drawing the conclusions that the metal shutdowns and breakdowns are related to cognitive psience.” Akechi said. "From what we found in Futaba-chan’s palace I think it’s not impossible to say that murder is doable through cognative psience.” 

“Would it have something to do with that black mask Kaneshiro told us about?” Makoto questioned 

“In all likelihood.” Akechi nodded. They continued to theorize while Futaba sat and listened to them. Eventually they decided to eat lunch. 

“Still, I have to wonder if Futaba really did take down such a powerful group as Medjed.” Makoto brushed her hair back.

“It was just one guy in Japan threatening you guys. I know the Japanese branch isn't anything special so I wasn’t worried.” Futaba shrugged as she finally spoke, surprising most of the room. "I founded Medjed so I know what they’re able to do.” 

“You founded it?” Ryuji looked surprised.

“Yeah. It was just me at first, I was called the ‘hacker of justice’ and since I stayed anonymous a bunch of people started to use the title from all over the world. They ended up changing the meaning of it so I pulled out and just set out solo as Alibaba. It was too much work to expose them all.” 

“I see…” Akechi touched his chin before sharing a knowing look with Akira. 

“Do you want to join us?” Akira asked. "You know our secret and we could really use someone of your expertise.” 

“Yeah, you were way more useful in that fight than Morgana.” Ryuji laughed. 

“Hey!” Morgana shouted.

“Hm. ‘kay.” Futaba nodded. 

“T-that easily?” Yusuke looked stunned.

“Yep.” Futaba still hadn’t turned to face them. When Makoto began to ask her questions about how she learned of their secret, where she learned to hack, and when she got the nav, Futaba was very resistant to answering anything. 

“I think we need to work on how to get Futaba-chan to speak with us.” Makoto sighed looking clearly irritated. "It might be best to spend a few days with her to make her comfortable with each of us?”

“I think she's fine the way she is.” Akira disagreed. Not everyone needed to converse 'normally' or whatever Makoto meant.

"If we can't talk with her normally then we'll run into problems later." Makoto disagreed. "The question becomes, how should we do it?” 

"I think Kurusu has a point that we don't really _need_ to **fix** anything about her." Akechi shook his head. "If you're going to insist on this course of action then we should make sure that she's with someone she's comfortable with."

“Well, she seems to trust you two." Yusuke motioned to Akira and Akechi. "And we have the time for helping her become more comfortable with the rest of us thanks to summer break.” Yusuke said thoughtfully. "We could just make a daily thing for each of us.” 

“Oh! Let’s go to the beach then! There’ll be tonsa people there!” Ryuji stretched out,” I still feel all dried out from that desert anyway.” 

“Let’s not dive right into the beach. Let’s spend a few days with her first. Ease her into being around people.” Akechi cut in. 

“I agree.” Makoto nodded. 

“As long as one of you is around…” Futaba mumbled. When asked to repeat what she had said she shouted a bit loudly,” as long as one of you is around I’ll do it!” she swung around to point at Akira and Akechi. "Or both. Both is good.”

“I can’t be here everyday. I have work this week, but I’ll try to be around as much as possible.” Akechi answered. "Sae-san was most displeased by the fact it appeared the Phantom Thieves managed to take care of Medjed.”

“Yeah sis was steamed.” Makoto nodded.

“Alright, we’ll start Operation: Help Futaba Open Up tomorrow!” Ann stretched her hands up over her head. "Who’s starting?” 

“I can,” Yususke put a hand up.

“Okay,” Makoto nodded,” I’ll be here too.” 

“I work tomorrow but I can be available the next day.” Akechi commented. "Is that alright with you, Futaba-chan?” 

“I guess.” Futaba mumbled. 

“Right. Let’s leave it at two a day for now.” Makoto started to gather up their lunch mess. "Then we’ll end it with a beach trip on, hmmm, how’s the 28th sound?” 

“I’ll try.” Futaba promised. 

“Good. I think that’ll end it today then? I’m going to head to the station and find out what is going on. I am part of the investigation after all.” 

“Good luck.” Akira offered before everyone began to clean up then leave.

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _6:06pm: **potato masher** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**potato masher** : yo i heard some people talking about us on the train home!  
**cake pan:** right? i heard some people saying we were awesome.  
**little spoon** : The number of people that would have suffered if a real attack had happened would have been massive.  
**little spoon** : It’s not a surprise they revere us for preventing it.  
**sponge boy** : it was close tho…  
**cookie jar** : dramatic.  
**The Juicer** : Futaba?????  
**cookie jar** : yeah. i added myself to stuff.  
**sponge boy** : … how much stuff?  


_** 💐SECRETS ARE HARD💐 ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _6:10pm:_ **Futaba __**_has started a new chat group **}**_

**Futaba** : a lot of stuff.  
**Yusuke** : ………………………  
**Ryuji** : oh fuck  
**Futaba** : i won’t blab.  
**Futaba** : i’m not like that.  
**Akira** : fffffffffffffffffffffffffff  
**Akira** : okay but… can you stop stalking my chat logs?  
**Futaba** : already done.  
**Futaba** : i wanted to know what kind of person you are.  
**Futaba** : i don’t need to keep track of everything you’re doing now.  
**Futaba** : okay?  
**Futaba** : promise.  
**Akira** : okay...  
**Futaba** : ୧༼✿ ͡◕ д ◕͡ ༽୨  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ everything but the kitchen sink _ **

**cake pan:** it’s been suspiciously quiet.  
**sponge boy** : she got into my thirst thread so i had to delete that.  
**sponge boy:** she’s too young.  
**cookie jar** : i’m 9001% sure i’ve seen worse than your porn history.  
**sponge boy** : :|  
**cookie jar** : ヽ( ˘x˘ )ゝ  
**potato masher** : that's… terrifying  
**The Juicer** : We’re decidedly moving out of this conversation about porn.  
**The Juicer** : Thank you for your help Futaba.  
**cookie jar** : it was nothing.  
**cake pan** : were they getting started with the banks and stuff?  
**cookie jar** : nope. that was unrelated.  
**cookie jar:** from what i dug up they were bluffing.  
**potato masher** : seriously?  
**cookie jar** : yep. ★⌒(●ゝω・)ｂ  
**little spoon** : You’re quite expressive in this conversation are you?  
**cookie jar** : am i? i guess i’ll shut up then.  
**cookie jar** : :|  
**little spoon** : ?  
**cookie jar:** >:C  
**cake pan** : i think you made her mad Yusuke.  
**little spoon:** What? How?  
**cookie jar:** :U  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

That night Akira was able to sleep again but he had doubts that it had anything to do with him feeling tired or at ease. Lucidity slapped him across the face as the cold blue of the Velvet Room met him once again. He let out a tired sigh then stood to approach the bars. Across the room Justine was using a chainsaw on roots trying to grow back into the room. The flower hanging from the ceiling was still slowly growing larger and was starting to envelope the light there to cast a red light around the room, much like when an alarm sounded.

“You’ve gained some control over your fate.” Igor spoke motioning around the room. The twins had been hard at work fighting back his hanahaki growth so it was simply in the cells. "You’ve done well. Not only did you find a way to lessen death’s hold on you, you also found interesting information about research being used for nefarious means. Your rehabilitation is coming along well.” 

“I’ve got an uneasy feeling about what’s going on.” Akira admitted.

“As you should. Be cautious of everyone around you.” Igor offered a warning before telling Akira he would grant him another power to fuse persona. "Use this power wisely. We shall meet again in the near future.” Igor waved a hand and Akira felt himself slip back into a space of sleep.

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _5:54pm: **potato masher** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**potato masher** : how’d today go?  
**cookie jar:** it was a breeze.  
**cookie jar** : even if inari ruined my neo-featherman figures…  
**little spoon** : I apologized!  
**sponge boy:** i stopped paying attention when you guys started to argue about aesthetics, when was the apology?  
**little spoon** : Just before we left!  
**The Juicer** : Tomorrow we’re going to have her meet with the next group in Akira’s room.  
**sponge boy** : _@Kitchen Sink_ ann and ryuji will be there tomorrow. are you going to make it?  
**Kitchen Sink** : Sadly no. Things have been rather hectic. I’ll let you know when I can be there.  
**sponge boy:** okay.  
**sponge boy** : see you guys tomorrow.  
**cake pan** : i’m bringing all kinds of snacks!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ everything but the kitchen sink _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _6:18pm: **little spoon** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**little spoon** : How did today go?  
**cookie jar** : mission complete!  
**cookie jar** : talking to people is too easy.  
**sponge boy** : tomorrow is the real test.  
**cookie jar** : you guys are the worst.  
**Kitchen Sink:** What’s the plan tomorrow?  
**sponge boy:** we’re going to have her help out around the shop.  
**cookie jar:** it’s like going from easy mode to critical level 1 no exp mode!  
**sponge boy** : those are words.  
**Kitchen Sink** : I should be able to come by tomorrow.  
**sponge boy:** see futaba. you’ll be okay.  
**cookie jar:** okay! with backup support i got this!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ everything but the kitchen sink _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _4:44pm: **The Juicer** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**The Juicer** : How was it?  
**cookie jar:** there was a casualty today.  
**sponge boy** : a few cups were lost.  
**Kitchen Sink** : She did approach a customer on her own to serve coffee. Even though she had that mask on.  
**cookie jar:** listen, i needed my special item to make it. （￣□￣；）  
**sponge boy** : you still did well.  
**Kitchen Sink:** Agreed. I’m just glad that customer shut his mouth.  
**sponge boy:** god right? he was being a creep.  
**cookie jar** : he was up his own ass.  
**potato masher** : what’s the plan tomorrow?  
**cake pan** : makoto and i have a plan.  
**potato masher:** i got no plans so ima swing by  
**little spoon:** i will as well.  
**Kitchen Sink:** I have another few days at work lined up.  
**cookie jar** : boooooo.  
**Kitchen Sink** : I have to. If I get this done I’ll be able to join everyone on the beach trip.  
**cookie jar:** fine. but you better not flake!  
**Kitchen Sink** : I promise to be there.  
**sponge boy** : oh he promised. he’s serious now.  
**cookie jar:** objective met to continue the mission!  
**The Juicer** : Okay, we’ll be by tomorrow. Get some rest!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ everything but the kitchen sink _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _5:30pm: **cake pan** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**cake pan** : we’ve got the swimsuits ready!  
**cake pan** : you guys better be ready too!!!  
**sponge boy** : i bought trunks recently.  
**potato masher** : you guys were so loud today boss came to ask what was up  
**little spoon** : He seemed a bit worried at first.  
**cookie jar:** this is just sad.  
**potato masher:** ??  


**cookie jar has changed Yusuke’s name to rolling pin.**

**cookie jar** : that’s more like it.  
**rolling pin** : I’m confused.  
**cookie jar** : you can’t be a little spoon without a big one!  
**sponge boy** : blame ann. i was his big spoon.  
**cookie jar** : doesn’t matter! name has been changed!  
**The Juicer:** I’m glad you’re so excited Futaba. I hope you hold that excitement into Sunday.  
**cookie jar:** why? what’s happening sunday?  
**The Juicer** : The beach.  
**cookie jar** : oh right….  
**sponge boy** : _@Kitchen Sink_ how goes work?  
**The Juicer** : I also wonder. From what I can tell the mental shutdowns and breakdowns have been slowing down for a while now.  
**potato masher** : maybe the black mask is on summer break too  
**cake pan** : seriously ryuji?  
**potato masher** : what?  
**rolling pin** : Ryuji does have a point though. We’re all rather young with this power. What if the Black Mask is also a student?  
**The Juicer** : A student killing people?  
**sponge boy** : i don’t think we can dismiss it.  
**sponge boy** : i mean, look at me. i’m a fully fledged delinquent.  
**cookie jar** : dramatic.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ GORO AKECHI _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _11:38pm: **Goro** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Goro** : Sorry I didn’t answer earlier. I was rather busy.  
**Goro** : Makoto-chan is right that things have slowed down a lot in terms of the shutdowns.  
**Goro** : There might be some merit in thinking this person is also a student.  
**Goro** : I’ll be working tomorrow during the day but I should be available in the evening if you wanted to spend some time together.  
**Akira** : we could prepare for the trip?  
**Goro** : I was thinking more like we could have another billiards match.  
**Goro** : It’s been a while.  
**Akira** : hm. yeah. i’d like that.  
**Goro** : Feel free to invite Futaba-chan, a preview of an outing might be just what she needs to ease into the beach scene the next day.  
**Akira** : good idea. i’ll ask her.  
**Goro** : Good. See you tomorrow night.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ everything but the kitchen sink _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _3:43pm: **potato masher** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**potato masher** : think were good for tomorrow?  
**cake pan** : i think so! she’s come a long way!  
**The Juicer** : I agree.  
**Kitchen Sink** : I’ll be there as well.  
**cookie jar:** ( •̀ ᴗ• ́)ﻭ✧  
**sponge boy** : akechi and i are going to have her come with us tonight to play billiards.  
**sponge boy** : think of it as a soft open.  
**Kitchen Sink** : It’s going to rain tonight so there won’t be many people out. It’ll be a very light traffic night.  
**cookie jar:** i-i can do this! ( •̀ ᴗ• ́)ﻭ✧✧✧  
**sponge boy** : and i’ll be right with you. if anyone messes with you i’ll take care of them.  
**cookie jar:** the perfect big brother type.  
**cookie jar:** cool and protective. ¡¡¡( •̀ ᴗ •́ )و!!! i’m totally hyped!  
**sponge boy** : i mean.  
**sponge boy:** i am one…  
**The Juicer:** I didn’t know you had younger siblings.  
**sponge boy** : just a twin brother.  
**sponge boy** : i'm the older one though.  
**potato masher** : bro ur that kind of bro?  
**sponge boy** : damn right i am. my brother is a bit of a dumbass. if i wasn't a serious big brother he'd be in so much trouble all the time.  
**sponge boy** : well... he might now.  
**sponge boy** : the local fabric shop owner in town might be able to keep him from doing anything too stupid until i see my brother again.  
**cake pan** : OH!!  
**cake pan** : that explains the cute mascot on your keys!  
**sponge boy:** nailed it.  
**potato masher** : maybe thats why akiras so good at helping everyone  
**Kitchen Sink** : I think that might have something more to do with a compulsion of his...  
**sponge boy** : maruki told me i have a savior complex.  
**sponge boy** : he’s not wrong.  
**The Juicer:** Did he really?  
**sponge boy:** in so many words…  
**cake pan** : so you still talk to him?  
**sponge boy:** i have issues to work out. :|  
**cake pan:** i don’t think anyone can fault you.  
**rolling pin:** It’s good to seek help.  
**rolling pin:** I would love to speak with him one of these days as well.  
**sponge boy** : we are all a mess of teen angst.  
**sponge boy** : i’ll sneak you into the school so you can talk to him yusuke.  
**rolling pin** : Thank you.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ everything but the kitchen sink _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _9:55pm: **cookie jar** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**cookie jar:** ABORT MISSION.  
**Kitchen Sink** : We’ll have to move it to Monday.  
**sponge boy** : yeah.  
**The Juicer** : What happened?  
**cookie jar:** EMERGENCY!  
**Kitchen Sink** : I got a call mid-game to come into work tomorrow. I won’t be in all day but it will be a significant part of the day.  
**cookie jar:** WE CAN’T DO THIS AS A TEAM IF CO-LEADER ISN’T THERE.  
**sponge boy** : sorry guys.  
**potato masher** : nbd  
**potato masher** : my mom asked me for some help anyway  
**The Juicer** : Futaba is right, we can’t do this without everyone present.  
**cake pan** : well! i’ll take shiho tomorrow and then go again with you guys the next day!  
**rolling pin** : I would love to go to the beach twice.  
**cake pan** : sorry yusuke. this turned into a date for me and my gf.  
**cookie jar** : OPERATION BEACH IS MONDAY.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The following evening Akechi came to the shop looking a bit worse for wear. Akira hadn’t been expecting him at all. Futaba had been getting ready to go home when she spotted him coming in and sat in one of the stools as Akechi took a seat as well. "You look like crap.” Akira said honestly as he started to prepare Akechi’s favorite. 

“I feel it,” Akechi sighed,” after all the work I did the last few days someone in another department took a look at it and tossed it out citing that there wasn’t enough evidence.” Akechi reached a hand back to rub the back of his neck. "So that Medjed man was let go.” 

“Ugh,” Futaba groaned,” why’d they do something that stupid?” 

“Honestly? Probably because I was the one who turned in the report. There are many there who don’t care for me.” Akechi admitted. "I’m not welcome much no matter where I go. This place here being the one exception. Until recently, I had been passed from foster home to foster home. I do well enough for myself now but it wasn’t easy.” 

“I understand that.” Futaba muttered. "I was too.” 

“It seems we have something in common, Futaba-chan.” Akechi smiled at her. "How was today?” 

“Good. I served more coffee, this time without the mask.” Futaba announced. 

“She didn’t break anything today either.” Akira grinned, passing Akechi his coffee.

“Very good. I think tomorrow will go well.” Akechi commented as he took a sip of his coffee. "Huh, I think this might be better than Boss’ brew.”

“Told you I’d be a pro in no time.” Akira leaned against the counter. "Watch out because I’ll be taking the coffee world by storm this time next year.” 

“I look forward to that.” Akechi chuckled.

“Oh! Sojiro is back! Come outside!” Futaba jumped up when she spotted Sojiro outside. She gave Akechi’s arm a yank before she rushed to meet Sojiro.

“What’s going on?” Akechi asked Akira who had no idea. Rather than try to figure it out from inside the two young men followed Futaba outside to find Sojiro with a bag of fireworks.

“I went and got some fireworks earlier but it was still too bright outside so I put them at home so I could surprise you tonight!” Futaba explained excitedly. "Sojiro told me about how you got rained out at the festival. So I was hoping this might make up for it?” 

“Futaba…” Akira stared at her for a minute before smiling,” thank you.” 

“This is very thoughtful.” Akechi added. 

“I’m glad you’re here too Goro so we can do this together!” Futaba was practically bouncing on her heels. 

“Goro?” Akechi blinked in surprise. 

“Sorry, should I call you Akechi?” Futaba chewed her bottom lip. 

“It’s alright. Whatever makes you comfortable.” Akechi answered and Akira was tempted to call him by his given name too. The moment passed as Sojiro asked for help with a water bucket so they could start to light the fireworks. 

Morgana joined them watching from the side as the teenagers light sparklers to let them shower the ground with flashes of light and ash. The rest of the evening was spent like this, playing with fireworks and talking about nonsense teenager things. Soon enough it was time for Akechi to head home so Akira walked him to the station.

“I would just stay here but I don’t have my beach bag here so I’d have to go home tomorrow morning anyway.” Akechi explained as they waited for his train. "Tonight was fun. It helped me forget about the unfairness of things for a little while.” 

“Aren’t you glad you came by for some coffee?” Akira teased.

“I am, being around you is fun,” Akechi chuckled,” and tomorrow should be just as entertaining. Try to get some sleep tonight.” 

“Yeah.” Akira touched the corner of his eye knowing the bags were pretty stark against his skin.

“Think of it this way, you’ll be able to see who you want to see in their swimsuits sooner if you sleep.” Akechi offered advice.

“Sometimes I hate when the chatroom thirst me comes out but then you go and say something like that.” Akira’s face flushed.

“I look forward to seeing you too.” Akechi winked as his train came to a stop. "I’ll see you tomorrow, Kurusu.” 

“Bye.” Akira waved until Akechi was gone. He stood there for a moment with his hand held up before the flush on his cheeks spread over his entire face. "Oh fuck.” Akira got out before he started to cough. He stumbled back to sit on the bench behind him, holding a hand over his mouth until another flower came out, this one as full as the last one that had come out and just as bloody. This one also seemed to have roots with it, maybe this was good? He needed to talk to Takemi, after tomorrow. Tomorrow was too important.

_** 💐SECRETS ARE HARD💐 ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:52pm:_ **Akira __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : tomorrow might kill me.  
**Ryuji** : bro?  
**Yusuke** : I’m sure he means Akechi in a swimsuit.  
**Futaba** : you can’t back out!  
**Futaba** : if you start feeling overwhelmed just throw up the red flag!  
**Akira** : coming from futaba i have to be strong.  
**Akira** : but it’s so hard…  
**Yusuke** : Are you thinking about confession tomorrow?  
**Ryuji** : ?!  
**Akira** : no.  
**Akira** : i’m not ruining the whole trip when i DIE on camellia flowers.  
**Yusuke** : Ah. A pity it’s those. Camellias are very beautiful.  
**Akira** : they’re awesome covered in blood.  
**Futaba** : (๑°⌓°๑)  
**Akira** : sorry.  
**Ryuji** : dont apologize dude  
**Ryuji** : what do we do if you have an attack tomorrow though?  
**Akira** : i’m going to just.... bury my head in the sand?  
**Futaba** : we’ll have to distract goro so he doesn’t find out.  
**Akira** : is it bad i think he’s already figured me out?  
**Yusuke** : what makes you think that?  
**Akira** : he keeps making vague suggestions about himself in what i perceive as semi-romantically charged.  
**Yusuke** : Details?  
**Akira** : i give you one (1) example, clearly i’ve been sleeping like shit thanks to takemi’s super meds right?  
**Akira** : mona, the tiny bastard, sold me out about not sleeping.  
**Akira** : so i lie like the criminal i am and say i don’t know if i can get hanahaki. but kept dreaming i was dying bc no one would accept my feelings and i choke on the flowers bc they tell me they hate me.  
**Akira** : CLEARLY A LIE. I KNOW I’M LOVED THANKS. DON’T FREAK.  
**Ryuji** : i was gunna say  
**Yusuke** : Yes. Ryuji and I have expressed love for you.  
**Futaba** : I LOVE YOU TOO. (੭ु ›ω‹ )੭ु⁾⁾♡  
**Akira** : thank you futaba.  
**Akira** : so he’s like ‘hm. that’s no good. well if it helps i would never say i hate you.’  
**Akira** : then he left and I spit up a big ass flower with roots attached????????  
**Akira** : then i did it again just now???????????????????  
**Akira** : i don’t know what it means…….???????????????????????  
**Futaba** : maybe your hanahaki is perceiving the ‘ _semi-romantically charged’_ suggestions as mini acceptances so it’s spitting out parts.  
**Akira** : i have been feeling better…  
**Futaba** : yeah. so.  
**Futaba** : i think it’s in parts like that because you’ve got that ficus stuff.  
**Futaba** : totally horrible thing btw.  
**Futaba** : don’t look up anything about it.  
**Futaba** : seriously don’t.  
**Futaba** : i’m soft blocking your search for your own sake.  
**Akira** : GET OUT OF MY PHONE.  
**Futaba** : it’s for your own safety. anyway.  
**Futaba** : sometimes for ficus people it takes a little bit at a time.  
**Futaba** : _then_ a big one so you don’t end up with a shredded throat on the way out.  
**Akira** : i feel so much better.  
**Futaba** : point is just keep flirting.  
**Futaba** : our job is to keep enabling you!  
**Futaba** : if only we could stage a drowning scene.  
**Futaba** : get him to give you a big ol’ smoochie. ˶⚈Ɛ⚈˵  
**Akira** : i’ll pass thanks. :|  
**Ryuji** : is trying to enable him a good idea tomorrow?  
**Yusuke** : Perhaps not. If it’s as Futaba says we should keep them apart the best we can.  
**Yusuke** : We don’t need a big attack tomorrow. More so if it’ll destroy your throat when the roots come out.  
**Ryuji** : right  
**Ryuji** : tomorrow is just fun time  
**Ryuji** : no desperate flirting  
**Futaba** : you guys are no fun! it’s the obligatory beach episode!  
**Futaba** : these are the episodes layered so thick with romance that it makes the audience sick!  
**Akira** : you watch too much anime…  
**Futaba** : you don’t watch enough!!! ┻━┻ ︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ︵ ┻━┻  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've reached a point in writing where i have had to get a wrist brace bc it was so sore the other night i couldn't even sleep. 8D i have them now though and i can get back to finishing this monster of a fic. also i didn't realize i was going to post this on the 4th of july so the fireworks is like... funny to me. lol
> 
> my wonderful husband has informed me of a bad writing habit i have so i've been going through trying to fix it but it won't take really until like.... next chapter were i did more work to fix it. it's not a big deal it's just a mild punctuation problem. in other news i have planned out the end of the fic and have updated the chapter count to reflect how many chapters this will end at! if i have to add one or two i'll update it again but as of rn this will end at 42 chapters. two of them are me being smart by saying they're 15.5 and 25.5 chapters. they're will full length but i wanted to keep up with a shitposty name for them. lol
> 
> I don't have a whole lot of things to talk about this time so i'll just say idk what happened to suddenly get a lot more people engaging with me but i really appreciate it! i love hearing from you guys and i admit that sometimes i go back to add something in or adjust something in the fic when y'all point it out. y'all are amazing and i love you all. :D
> 
> preview:  
>  _“Can’t you find some random dude to do it for you?” Ryuji complained. “It sounds like work which sounds sweaty.”_
> 
> _“Lazy jerk.” Akira pouted. “Did you even put any on?”_
> 
> _“Nah. I’ll burn like a real man.” Ryuji flexed._
> 
> _“I see how it is.” Akira frowned. His attention was on Ryuji so when he felt something cold slide down his shoulders he yelped._  
> 


	16. obligatory beach ep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the phantom thieves take a much needed beach trip because that’s what teens do during summer! stay tuned for a fun filler episode!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it’s beach day bitches

The morning was already turning out to be the start of a hot day. Sojiro started with telling Akira to keep an eye on his daughter before the two of them set off to meet with the others at Shibuya before heading to the beach. Futaba kept herself cornered behind Akira and Akechi as the train puttered along to their destination. Once they arrived the guys went to change into their swimwear. They then sat around a table near the changing rooms as they waited for the girls. 

“God it’s hot,” Ryuji complained,” and it’s packed. Is she going to be okay?” 

“She’ll be fine.” Akira pressed a soda to the side of his neck to try and cool off a little. “We’re with her.”

“I guess. I gotta ask though…” Ryuji stared across the table at Yusuke and Akechi,” why the hell are you two wearing a sweater and a shirt?” 

“I burn easily.” Yusuke answered by tugging his hood down a little more,” Even with a thick layer of sunblock.” 

“I don’t burn easily but I would like to avoid my shoulders getting too burned.” Akechi answered as he smeared sunblock along his cheeks and nose before rubbing it in. “Do you need any?” He offered his sunblock to Akira. 

“I don’t know, Ryuji, would you coat my back for me?” Akira leaned his head back with a grin. 

“Can’t you find some random dude to do it for you?” Ryuji complained. “It sounds like work which sounds sweaty.” 

“Lazy jerk.” Akira pouted. “Did you even put any on?” 

“Nah. I’ll burn like a real man.” Ryuji flexed. 

“I see how it is.” Akira frowned. His attention was on Ryuji so when he felt something cold slide down his shoulders he yelped.

“Don’t flail around you’ll get it everywhere.” Akechi warned Akira as he started to spread the sunblock around. “Stand up so I can get your lower back.” Akechi commanded and Akira obliged. God his hands were soft. Did Akechi have a right to have hands that soft? Akira’s face burned bright red as Akechi’s fingers slid along the sides above his hips to move over his shoulder blades then along the back of his neck. A very viable shiver went right down Akira’s spine and he was left praying to whatever god existed that this would end soon or he was going to have a problem in his pants rather than his throat for once.

“Sorry for the wait guys.” Makoto’s voice called just as Akechi said he finished the back. Akira snatched the sunblock from Akechi to quickly cover parts of his face that he knew were deep red at that moment. After he hid his shame Akira turned to look at the girls. As Makoto and Ann approached them.

Each of them wore a suit that worked well for them. It reminded Akira of why Ann was working as a model. She certainly had the body for it. Ryuji seemed excited about it, at least until Ann laughed at him,” Suddenly got a better opinion of me now huh?” Ann stepped up to Ryuji to jab him in the side a few times. “What’s wrong Ryuji? Cat got your tongue? Say something!” 

“H-hey! You have a girlfriend! I’m just respecting that! That’s all!” Ryuji tried to defend himself.

“Are we missing one?” Akira asked as he rubbed the sunblock into his face now that he calmed down. Futaba then came blindly stumbling out of the changing room with a towel wrapped around her face.

“We tried to get her to not put that on but…” Makoto sighed as she turned toward Futaba walking out.

“You’re going to run into someone like that.” Akira laughed, helping Futaba out of the towel. “Okay, let’s find a spot and set up.” Akira grabbed two of their many bags as Yusuke and Ryuji picked up their umbrellas while Akechi dragged their cooler along behind them. Once they found a place to set up with a few chairs the group basically made a circle with their things in the middle and a blanket between the space with no seats.

“God it’s so hooooooot.” Ryuji complained again.

“There are a lot of people here.” Makoto noted looking around as she helped Ann with her sunblock. “Are you okay Futaba?” 

“I’m with all of you so I’m a-ok!” Futaba said with a bit of nervous energy to her voice.

“Do you want help with sunblock?” Akira asked, wiggling the bottle he had still stolen from Akechi. Futaba simply nodded then stood in front of him as he helped apply the blocker to her back. “I’ll let you do your front.” Akira passed the bottle to her after he worked it in.

“How can you do that?” Ryuji whined. “Just so casually ask a girl if she needs help with sunblock like that?” 

“I dunno, maybe because they know I won’t get any weird ideas from it?” Akira teased Ryuji. “Anyway, I’m starving. We should eat. It took us a while to get here and get set up.” 

“Yeah!” Ann agreed then started to pull out their packed lunches.

“Mona are you okay?” Futaba poked the cat after he slid off the cooler when Ann nudged him away. 

“Hooooooot.” Morgana complained.

“He’s dying. Maybe we should have left him at home?” Akira suggested. “Mona, do you want to go for a swim?” 

“Nooooo.” Morgana complained quietly before Futaba dragged him into some shade and put a couple iced drinks between him with a cold water blow in front. “Thaaaaaaaanks.”

“Hang in there Mona!” Futaba praised giving him a light pat on the head.

After lunch was eaten Morgana seemed to perk up a little at least. After a short conversation of what to do next the girls left to ride a banana boat so the boys were stuck with nothing but silence between them.

“This is nice and awkward.” Akira commented. 

“Man. This sucks. Akechi, can’t you use that TV charm and like, get some people to hang out with us?” Ryuji groaned. 

“I’d rather not do that.” Akechi adjusted the sunglasses on his face. “If people start to recognize me I won’t have much of a fun time.” 

“Uuuuuugh, we risk our lives being Phantom Thieves and this is the treatment we get?” Ryuji complained loudly. “There’s no chance in hell we’re the same as other guys around here. Shouldn’t we be having more good times in reality too? You’re with me right Yusuke, Mona?” 

“Please, complain a bit louder. I don’t think the people behind me heard you.” Akechi smiled very sweetly and Akira suddenly heard alarms buzzing like the Velvet Room during a lockdown. 

“When you put it that way, you might be right… but Akechi is right as well. You can’t be that loud.” Yusuke shook his head. 

“Yeah idiot. Just because you’re a Phantom Thief doesn’t mean you get to boast about it in public! There’s no way for you to use that as a pick up line so you’d be better off learning some actual charm!” Morgana said rather smugly. Ryuji and Mona then began to argue back and forth. 

“Do you want to go for a walk?” Akechi turned to Akira. Akira was then faced with a choice, listen to Ryuji and Morgana bicker, or chance getting into a flower attack with Akechi alone.

“Sure.” Akira’s stupid mouth decided against what his brain was telling him to do. With a swift motion the two of them got up to leave as Yusuke tried to break up Ryuji and Morgana as Ryuji looked like he was about to start getting physical and people were now staring at the boy fighting loudly with a cat. 

“It’s a wonder Sakamoto hasn’t outed us all yet.” Akechi sighed once they were far enough away from them and walking along the water. “Does he do that at school too?” 

“Yes,” Akira sighed,” I keep having to remind him to stop.” 

“If we all get caught and thrown in jail my bet is that it’ll be his fault.” Akechi pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Oh? You’ll be in there with us?” Akira smirked. “From all your talk before I thought you would have bailed as soon as you could.”

“Yes, well, that situation has changed some.” Akechi admitted. “The things we found out in Futaba-chan’s palace have me wondering about some things and then of course there’s the little detail of me helping you lead this merry band of thieves.” 

“I appreciate that by the way.” Akira smiled sheepishly.

“It takes an incredible amount of courage to admit you need help. People go a long time without saying anything and then we end up running into those people with huge palaces like Futaba-chan.” Akechi looked out toward the water spotting the girls on the banana boat in the distance. “I wonder if persona users can get palaces.” 

“God I hope not.” Akira moved around to stand next to Akechi as Futaba spotted them and began to wave excitedly before almost slipping off the boat to fall into the water but Ann caught her.

“You think you’d have one?” Akechi raised an eyebrow. 

“I don’t know. I don’t think I have any twisted desires.” Akira tapped the side of his face. “But Futaba didn’t know about her palace. Sure she’s got a persona now but… still.”

“I grew interested in the idea and checked out our names against the Meta-Nav. No one pinged a target so I think we’re safe for now,” Akechi chuckled,” but it’s interesting the people who do ping.”

“You checked it against people you know?” Akira raised an eyebrow.

“It was hard to resist after seeing what Futaba-chan’s palace had to share.” Akechi pulled his glasses up to rest them on his head. “Those cops, they made her believe she killed her mom by just existing. I had to know how many more around me were capable of such things.” 

“Is there… something you want to do about them?” Akira asked almost shyly. 

“I do, but we can’t just fly off and start changing half the police department. It’s better to target just one or two certain people to start making the changes from the inside.” Akechi sighed. “We’ll work it out. Right now I think we need to just relax and have some fun.” 

Akira agreed with Akechi on that. They couldn’t push themselves to change everyone, they just needed to get to certain people in order to make the ripple turn into a wave that would reform their society. Then again that would come after they took a little time to just be teens.

“U-uhmmm,” a small voice sounded behind them before someone carefully tugged on the end of Goro’s overshirt. 

The two of them turned around to find a very young girl holding a dolphin stuffed toy in one arm as her other hand held onto Akechi. “Hello?” Akechi shared a quick look with Akira then looked back at the girl. She looked like she was about to cry. “Can I help you?”

“You’re Detective Goro Akechi-san from TV?” The girl asked, earning a nod from Akechi before she continued. “Can you help me find my mama? 

“You’ve lost your mother?” Akechi repeated. 

“Yeah, she told me if I get lost to look for a policeman. I saw you on TV talking about the Phantom Thieves because you are a policeman right?” The girl gave Akechi a watery eyed gaze.

“We’ll help you find her. Can you tell me your name?” Akechi turned to face her getting his shirt free of her hold. 

“Yuko.” 

“Yuko-chan, can you tell me what she looks like?” Akechi asked as he kneeled to the girl’s level and listened. Once Akechi had the information he stood back up to offer his hand to the girl. “Okay, Yuko-chan. We’re going to find your mother. Keep your eyes on the lookout for her, got it?”

“Yes.” Yuko nodded.

“If you want you can head back.” Akechi said to Akira.

“Nah, I’ll help out.” Akira shrugged walking around to Yuko’s other side. “The more eyes looking the more likely we are to find her. My name is Akira.” Akira flashed a smile to the little girl who shifted closer to Akechi to hide. 

The three of them began to search. They spoke to people around where Yuko had approached them hoping someone had seen her mother but no one had anything helpful to offer. There was a man who thought the two of them were just trying to hit on his girlfriend with a ‘lame’ excuse. The lifeguards were equally unhelpful and Yuko refused to go with them since they weren’t ‘policemen like Detective Goro Akechi-san.’ Akira didn’t have the heart to correct her that Akechi was not a cop.

After the first hour Yuko was starting to get tired and upset. “W-what if my mama left me? I was a bad girl so she didn’t want me anymore!” Yuko began to sob.

“Why would you think that Yuko-chan?” Akechi knelt to her level once again. 

“I wanted to play in the water and she told me it was time to eat but I didn’t listen!” Yuko rubbed her eyes as she really began to sob.

“Yuko-chan, do you know your mama’s name?” Akira decided to ask. She was young so there was a chance she didn’t but he had to try. 

“Midori.” Yuko managed to calm down enough to say.

“Your mom has a pretty name,” Akira said, also coming down to Yuko’s level,” you know what my dad would do when we couldn’t find my mom?” Akira asked, earning a shake of the head from Yuko. “He would put me on his shoulders so I could look over the top of everyone and everything. So I could see her, and she could see me. Would you like to try being on my shoulders to look for her?” Yuko made a sound of uncertainty as she thought about Akira’s offer before she slowly began to nod. “Okay. Let’s have Detective Goro Akechi-san put you on and then you hold on and we’ll look again, sound good?” 

“Okay.” Yuko nodded. Akechi didn’t need further prompting as he stood to pick Yuko up and set her on Akira’s shoulders. He then helped Akira stand upright so they didn’t go tumbling over. “It’s really high up…” 

“You’ll be alright. You can hold onto my hair so you don’t fall or so you can direct where we go, okay?” Akira put his hands around her ankles to keep Yuko in place before they began to walk again. At first Yuko didn’t want to pull on his hair to keep steady but she did start to use it as a steering device. First it was random, as if testing if Akira would really go in whatever direction she pulled, but then she started to guide him around with more focus.

“Do you work with Detective Goro Akechi-san?” Yuko leaned on Akira’s head to ask. 

“Some times.” Akira answered. 

“Are you going to try aress-ing the Phantom Thieves?” Yuko leaned further over his head to try looking at him. 

“Nah, don’t tell Detective-san but I kind of think they’re heroes of justice.” Akira whispers loudly. From his left he heard an amused huff from Akechi and could almost picture the fond smile. 

“I think so too.” Yuko admitted with an equally loud whisper. “My papa was hurting my mama a lot, and sometimes me, but she wouldn’t tell him to stop. I asked the police to help but they wouldn’t believe me. So then I sneaked onto mama’s phone to ask the Phantom Thieves. Then all of a sudden papa apologized and decided to leave us alone! They saved mama and me.” Yuko explained and Akira could vaguely recall helping a child from one of the requests Yuuki had given them. “The Phantom Thieves are heroes to me. No matter what. I’m sorry Detective Goro Akechi-san.” Yuko pouted to Akechi.

“That’s okay.” Akechi spoke softly before leaning against Akira to whisper loudly. “Can you keep a secret Yuko-chan?” 

“Yes!” Yuko leaned closer to Akechi. 

“Akira and I _are_ Phantom Thieves.” Akechi told her which surprised Akira a few ways. First was that Akechi called him by his name. It made his stomach do odd little flips and he suddenly wanted to have Akechi call him by his name all the time. The second was that he had admitted to them being Phantom Thieves. This wasn’t like Ryuji shouting it to the high heavens for everyone to hear, but Akechi was admitting he was one of them. It was nice to hear.

“REALLY?!” Yuko shouted before slapping a hand over her mouth. “Sorry.” She muttered after. “Are you telling the truth?” 

“He is,” Akira swayed her a little,” we’re the leaders, but we can’t let people know Detective Goro Akechi-san is one of us. He’d get in trouble.”

“I won’t tell anyone.” Yuko hugged the top of Akira’s head. “You helped my mama and me. Thank you so much.” Yuko sniffled.

“We did, so it’s up to you to make sure you two stay safe.” Akechi reached to give her a pat on the back.

“Yuko!” a woman’s voice shouted from somewhere in front of them. People began to part as a middle aged woman rushed toward them with a look of panic on her face. 

“MAMA!” Yuko wiggled before Akira quickly picked her off his shoulders and set her on the ground to let Yuko run the rest of the way to meet with her mom. “Mama I’m sorry! But I looked for a policeman and his friend and they helped me find you! I’m sorry!” 

“I looked all over for you! I was so worried!” Yuko’s mother hugged her child and pressed kisses to the sides of her face before standing to look at Akira and Akechi. “Thank you both so much.” Yuko’s mother bowed to them. “I had thought my husband kidnapped her…” 

“Your daughter was very smart.” Akechi smiled. “She remembered me from a TV program I was on and asked for help to find you.” 

“Just like you said mama.” Yuko wrapped her arms around her mother’s leg. “Aki-nii said we’d find you faster if I looked from high up and he was right!” Yuko said excitedly. “Thank you!”

“We’re just glad we could reunite you.” Akechi waved a hand trying to at least appear humble. After a few more minutes of thanks and excited story telling the mother and daughter left. “So, I’m guessing that was a Mementos mission done before Makoto-chan and I joined?” 

“Yeah,” Akira nodded,” it’s fuzzy but I think the father was treating them both like they were objects for him to use. It was sick.” Akira frowned. “I’m happy it all worked out. We weren’t sure since the poster never commented again. It’s comforting to see she’s doing well.” Akira watched as the parent and child vanished before leaning toward Akechi. “So you told her you’re one of us huh?”

“I think she needed some comfort.” Akechi shrugged. “Even if she tells anyone, she’s a child. Not many will believe her if anyone.” 

“Harsh, but true.” Akira nodded. “You’re good with kids.” 

“You’re better. You gained that child’s trust in no time.” Akechi motioned for them to walk in the direction that would take them back to the group. “Even if I helped it along by being there.” 

“I was going to say,” Akira chuckled,” I doubt she’d have let me lift her up if you hadn’t been there. Still, you admitted to being one of us.” Akira nudged Akechi’s arm.

“I can’t exactly call myself a consultant or a member apart and be one of the leaders at the same time.” Akechi rolled his eyes softly.

“So does that mean you’re going to really join us?” Akira had to ask. 

“Don’t tell anyone.” Akechi raised a finger to his lips with a smirk and Akira felt weak at the knees. Damn him. “We’ll see who picks up on it.”

“Ryuji will never.” Akira said with complete faith. Ryuji was fantastic as a friend, he was just a little slow at times and that was okay. He didn’t need to be anyone else.

“I can’t wait for him to prove us both wrong and he puts it all together before anyone else.” Akechi joked just before they came to a new sight, Ryuji was face down in the sand, Morgana sat nearby laughing, and Yusuke held a lobster in each hand. Akira felt like he was walking in at the end of a joke on a sitcom. 

“What happened here?” Akira asked.

“Ryuji decided that he should go around hitting on people to prove he was able to pick up someone but then he flirted with the wrong girl and she knocked him out.” Morgana summarized. “I don’t know about him though.” He motioned at Yusuke.

“Akira, you’re back. I meant to go looking for you but when I spotted these fine specimens I had to have them.” Yusuke held his lobster out toward Akira as he finally came close enough. “Look at the distinct shape, the curvature of the tails, I love them.”

“Yusuke…” Akira got out before he had to bite down on his lower lip. He was not going to laugh at Yusuke and his lobsters. He was not going to laugh at Yusuke and his two new pet lobsters that he had nowhere to put. 

“These are… rather large.” Akechi cleared his throat. “You plan to-um-keep them?” 

“Yes?” Yusuke questioned as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

“They’re great pets Yusuke.” Akira nodded, clearly struggling to hold back a laugh.

“Where are the girls?” Akechi decided to redirect the conversation before Akira could lose his ability to keep from laughing. 

“Uhhh,” Morgana looked around as Ryuji finally seemed to come to and rolled over to lay on his back,” I think I see Lady Ann?” Morgana pointed a paw a few yards away.

“Looks like they’re being bothered.” Akechi commented before moving to meet them and help out. Akira still needed time to not lose his mind over the wiggling lobsters and followed Akechi as fast as he could.

“Are these two bothering you?” Akira spoke loudly once he was close enough to Ann and Makoto. Where was Futaba?

“Oh you know, a girl says she’s in a relationship and they think it’s a quick lie.” Ann shrugged.

Akira looked at the two men. They had generic straight men written all over them. If he wasn’t sure it would cause a huge fight scene he’d offer himself as a willing date. Instead he decided to just stand up next to Ann. “As you can see, we’re here with friends so leave us alone!” Ann said firmly before wrapping her arms around Akira’s. 

“Come on baby. Don’t you get bored hanging out with kids like them?” One of the men said to Makoto.

“They’re far more interesting than anything involving you two.” Makoto bit back, earning a growl from one of the men. 

“I’m sure that two properly aged _adults_ realize that spending time with _teenagers_ would only damage their own reputation as well, wouldn’t you think?” Akechi pressed and suddenly the two men looked alarmed. After a quick exchange of looks they all but ran away. “Men like that disgust me.” 

“No kidding.” Ann sighed letting go of Akira. “Sorry Akira.” 

“No prob. I get the weirdest feeling if you’d told them you had a girlfriend they would have asked to watch.” Akira said as dryly as he could. 

“It was probably best we came along when we did.” Ryuji finally joined them. “No telling what would have happened to them if they’d kept going.” 

“What’s that mean?” Makoto questioned dangerously.

“I mean, if they wouldn’t have just left I’m sure you would have just put them in the hospita-- nevermind.” Ryuji cut off when Akechi nudged him.

“Where’s Futaba?” Yusuke questioned just before she appeared. 

“She saw those guys coming a mile away and hid.” Ann explained. “I don’t blame her.” 

“Are we going to make lobster?!” Futaba asked excitedly.

“I vote sashimi!” Morgana joined Futaba in trying to reach for the crustaceans. 

“Here we go.” Akira chuckled as he watched Yusuke try to defend his new pets from Futaba’s hands. “I wonder how long they’ll last.” 

“Probably until he realizes he needs to release them or eat them.” Ryuji shrugged. “You guys done with the banana boat?” 

“Oh, yeah! You guys can have a go!” Ann pulled a ticket from her bracelet to give to Akira. “The boat operator was pretty cute~” 

“I’m sold.” Akira snatched the ticket to take off again, leaving Yusuke to deal with Futaba as Akechi and Ryuji followed him. 

_______________________________________________________________________

As the day carried on the group spent time doing things together. Yusuke and Morgana played ref for a game of volleyball where Makoto spiked the ball hard enough to spread sand around and left a sizable crater in its wake. By the end of the game the boys had lost but that was fine. Futaba was having fun and that was the point. 

Right at the end of the day Ryuji was finally regretting not accepting any sunblock while Akira teased him with hovering a finger over his back,” Bro I can feel the heat radiating off your back. You’re going to be in for so much pain.” 

“Bro don’t touch it!” Ryuji flailed to get Akira to leave him alone.

“I think that it’s getting late enough that we should start to head home.” Makoto suggested,” We did a lot today, and Futaba did amazingly. I think we can see this as a successful mission.” Akira wasn’t sure that this was a mission so much as it was just them hanging out.

“Do I have to put a shirt on to get on the train?” Ryuji asked with a whimper. 

“You do.” Akechi confirmed pleasantly earning a cry of despair from Ryuji.

“Futaba-chan, Yusuke, we’re going to pack up to head home now. You ready?” Ann called to Futaba as she stood at the edge of the water overlooking the ocean watching as Yusuke released his lobsters into the water. 

“Farewell.” Akira vaguely made out before Yusuke stood up and pulled his sweater hood more firmly over his eyes. Yusuke had begun to walk away from Futaba when she squatted to the ground and held her knees.

“Futaba?” Akira called to her as he approached. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I just--” Futaba took in a shaky breath,” all this time, I had thought that it was my fault that my mom died. Everyone helped by saying things like, ‘you killed her’ and they called me a ‘murderer.’ It was hell.” 

“They shouldn’t have called you that.” Akechi frowned, standing at Futaba’s other side. “You were a child. They had no right doing that to you.” 

“I know… but it sounded so real. I ended up hating this world. I didn’t want to be a part of it. So I shut myself in and covered my ears. I thought if I did it maybe she would come back to life somehow. I knew it didn’t work like that but I still wanted to try. Like maybe her death was a bad dream, but there was nothing I could do. She was gone and I was alone.” Futaba stood up. “It took me a while to realize I wasn’t alone. I had Sojiro there to care for me and now I have all of you.” Futaba chewed her bottom lip .”In a weird way I kind of see you two like big brothers? You were there for me and it just makes me feel safe. You know?” Futaba looked between Akira and Akechi. “I love my mom, I miss her so much. I miss her waking up early to make me a bento or how she’d scold me when I’d sneak into her office to look at her research… _The cognitive world can become distorted through desires_.” Futaba spoke as if she were quoting something. _“If it becomes distorted, a person begins to exhibit problematic behavior in reality. That cognitive world disappears when you remove its core, and further problematic actions stop._ ” 

“Your mother was doing research on palaces.” Akechi summarized as Futaba turned around to face everyone.

“But how?” Morgana questioned. “I don’t understand how she knew about that!” 

“Yes, I’m not sure how she learned of it, back then it made no sense.” Futaba nodded. “She was working with a few people and they were on the cusp of a breakthrough when suddenly the funding was pulled and everyone was let go. She kept going at it though. She would trade theories with someone over the phone and I’d overhear it from time to time. However, now that I’ve been through it, I understand it. I was trapped in my own cognitive labyrinth. There was nothing I could do without help.” 

“Makes sense why you’d ask for help. Just wish you woulda been more direct about it.” Ryuji kicked the sand. 

“I had to make sure you were the good guys.” Futaba adjusted her glasses. “So when I learned you were near me, in Sojiro’s shop, I listened to see what I could learn.” 

“So you first heard about us through Leblanc?” Akechi aked. 

“I had to make sure Sojiro was actually working. Catching you guys was an accident I swear!” Futaba defended herself. “But then Goro joined you and you guys talked about what you were planning on doing in such a careful way… I really started to believe that you could help me. I was going to ask when Medjed announced their intention to attack you guys. I watched to see what would happen and when it was obvious you guys were no match I decided to make a deal out of it.” 

“Futaba-chan… you could have just asked.” Ann sighed with a fond smile on her face. 

“I wasn’t sure you would. Afterall, when I gave the ultimatum to change my heart as Alibaba Akechi got pretty angry about it.” Futaba linked her fingers together. “I get why, you knew nothing about me, nor about Alibaba. I was worried that you would tell me no.” 

“I was tempted to,” Akechi admitted,” but when we ran into Sae-san in the cafe trying to put trumped up charges on Boss I had to learn more about the situation. I’m glad I decided to go with my gut rather than logic for it. Had things played out another way I might have been on Sae-san’s side.” 

“Sis…” Makoto chewed her lip and looked to the ground.

“That was another reason I reached out to you all. I needed to do something to save Sojiro from the lies that woman was putting on him.” Futaba hugged her arm close. “I needed to be able to leave my room and live normally. For Sojiro’s sake.”

“And here you are.” Akira smiled.

“Yeah,” Futaba flashed him a smile,” I have a request. Please let me join your team.” 

“Eh? But you’re already part of it?” Ryuji looked around confused.

“It’s better that she ask than for assumptions to be made.” Yusuke shook his head.

“Agreed,” Akechi said,” I think I can speak for everyone here and I say we would be glad you have you join us. I think a number of us already considered you a teammate.” 

“Thank you.” Futaba grinned before her expression softened. “I’ll be honest, my goal isn’t to change people’s hearts. I want to learn what happened to my mom. I want to find out who forced her to have the mental shutdown that killed her.” 

“We’re looking for that too.” Akira nodded.

“You think a mental shutdown is what killed her?” Ann asked.

“Yes,” Futaba looked thoughtful,” in the days leading up to her death she wouldn’t talk to me no matter how much I spoke with her, then on the day she died it wasn’t that she jumped into the road, it was more like she collapsed and fell in. I don’t know who did it but that was what killed my mom. So, after sharing that, is it still okay that I join you? It’s a super personal reason...” 

“Of course it is.” Akira nodded. “We’ve got Akechi with us and his reason is basically ‘black mask bad, must catch.’ or something.” 

“Yeah, you’re way more dependable in a fight, ain’t that right Mona?” Ryuji took a jab at Morgana. 

“Hey. What’s what supposed to mean?! Are you trying to say I’m inadequate?!” Morgana snapped at Ryuji. 

“Don’t dunk on Mona,” Akira warned Ryuji as he put his hands up looking between the two of them,” we don’t need to bring dependability up. We’re all important.” 

“Let’s change the topic,” Akechi crossed his arms. 

“Oh I know, let’s save some Metaverse time and give Futaba her codename now!” Ann said excitedly. 

“Codename?” Futaba hummed. 

“Yes, we have Joker, Crow, Skull, Mona, Pather, Queen, and I’m Fox.” Yusuke pointed to each as he said their names,” What would you like?” 

“Well, she kind of looked like a frog in the Metaverse.” Ryuji grinned. 

“Nope.” Futaba shook her head. “You need more imagination Ryuji.” 

“Ha!” Morgana laughed at Ryuji. 

“Pharaoh might be too sore a spot considering her palace.” Akechi hummed. 

“Hacker isn’t quite right either.” Makoto tapped her lip. 

“How about… Navi? Like the little fairy in Zelda. Since she’s a navigator. Get it?” Akira joked and when he was met with plan faced looks he let his shoulders drop. “I have no good ideas.”

“Hmmm, it’s not bad but I think I’d rather go with Oracle in this instance. Batman is more my style here.” Futaba adjusted her glasses with a grin. “With my vision, I’ll guide you all to victory.” 

“Perfect,” Ann grinned,” okay, we should get packing up and head on home.” 

“Yeah, I crave curry!” Futaba announced proudly. 

“Okay let’s go.” Akira moved to fix his glasses but he had left them off today. He had wanted to see if his vision was still bad without them and it was. He needed to get real glasses.

_** everything but the kitchen sink ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _8:27pm: **cookie jar** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**cookie jar:** is ryuji dead?  
**potato masher** : just about  
**cookie jar:** you should have let akechi feel you up too.  
**potato masher** : pass  
**Kitchen Sink** : I have standards.  
**potato masher** : HEY  
**sponge boy** : i’m so hot not even the elusive detective goro akechi-san can’t keep his hands off me.  
**The Juicer** : Detetive Goro Akechi-san…?  
**sponge boy** : we had an anime date episode interrupted by a lost child.  
**rolling pin** : Lost child?  
**Kitchen Sink:** We found her mother in the end.  
**cookie jar:** hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.  
**cookie jar:** so i was thinking about this chat today when we were out.  
**cookie jar:** and i think i have a better name and theme for it.  
**cake pan:** we’ve had this theme for a while.  
**cake pan** : i say change it!  
**sponge boy** : do it. do it. do it.  
**cookie jar** : okay. here i go.  


**cookie jar has changed the group name to AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM.**

**cake pan** : asdljkfahsdkljghsdg TRUE  
**rolling pin** : Here we go.  


**cookie jar has changed Futaba’s name to sensual keystroke.**

**sponge boy** : oh god.  


**sensual keystroke has changed Akira’s name to glasses kink.**

**potato masher:** accurate  
**sensual keystroke** : LET ME WORK IN PEACE.  


**sensual keystroke has changed Ryuji’s name to twink bara.**

**sensual keystroke has changed Yusuke’s name to Sexy Lobster Artist.**

**sensual keystroke has changed Goro’s name to PrinceType.**

**sensual keystroke has changed Ann’s name to sensual strawberries.**

**sensual keystroke has changed Makoto’s name to The Hot Class Prez.**

**sensual keystroke has changed Morgana’s name to nekomimi mascot.**

**sensual strawberries** : wait.  
**sensual strawberries** : when did mona get a chat name and when was he added?  
**glasses kink** : i picked up a tablet for him so he can talk.  
**PrinceType** : How?  
**glasses kink** : mostly a lot of aaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssswwwwwwwwwwww.  
**sensual keystroke:** i added him to the chat sneakily. like i did.  
**nekomimi mascot** : opijjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj  
**sensual keystroke** : mona has spoken!  
**sensual keystroke** : now back to this beach date.  
**glasses kink** : it was a joke futaba.  
**PrinceType:** Sakamoto was arguing with Morgana so we left for a walk.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : That was why Futaba was saying she saw you two on the shore.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : Shortly after they left Ryuji tried to flirt with a few people.  
**glasses kink** : yeah how’d the sand taste?  
**twink bara:** like ass  
**glasses kink** : 👀  
**PrinceType:** I’d think more like feet.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : Perhaps both.  
**glasses kink** : (๑-﹏-๑) nvm  
**twink bara** : assfoot  
**sensual keystroke** : well, that’s gross. i’m going to post this to readit under /r everwonderwhatthattastedlike. thanks for getting me upvotes ryuji.  
**twink bara:** this is cyber bullying  
**glasses kink** : as leader i say it’s not.  
**PrinceType:** I concur.  
**sensual strawberries:** the leaders have spoken.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist:** Ryuji are you going to be able to sleep tonight? Your back was rather red… I think I used that color on a painting I made recently for an apple.  
**twink bara:** im about to pass out right now  
**twink bara** : ill let you guys know how i do  
**glasses kink** : night twink.  
**twink bara:** funny coming from you  
**glasses kink:** i know what i am.  
**sensual strawberries:** btw akira…  
**glasses kink** : yes?  
**sensual strawberries:** help.  
**glasses kink:** with?  
**sensual strawberries** : … summer homework.  
**glasses kink** : oh yeeeeeeeah.  
**sensual strawberries** : dslk;gfhjasdkljgh DID YOU FORGET? what twilight area episode are we in? and what did you do with joker?  
**glasses kink** : yeah i forgot. but no, i got it done first week so it kind of left my brain.  
**twink bara** : OF COURSE YOU DID  
**twink bara:** i need help too  
**PrinceType** : I haven’t finished all of mine either.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : That’s surprising Akechi-kun.  
**PrinceType** : I’ve been working in between everything else we’ve done this summer so far.  
**PrinceType** : I’m surprised Kurusu got his done already.  
**glasses kink** : that’s because i stay up during all hours of the night either cleaning or doing massive prepwork for school/phantom thieves.  
**glasses kink** : did you know we have like a hundred lockpicks?  
**PrinceType** : I think you need to sleep more…  
**glasses kink** : that’s the plan tonight. (☞ﾟ³ﾟ)☞  
**sensual keystroke** : i was wondering why there was always a bunch of sweeping in the middle of the night.  
**glasses kink** : i think sojiro’s been happy.  
**glasses kink** : anyway, should we meet tomorrow for homework?  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : I could also use some help.  
**The Hot Class Prez:** I can help go over it to make sure things are right.  
**PrinceType** : I think I’d like to take advantage of that.  
**glasses kink** : this is how i want to spend the last days of my summer.  
**glasses kink** : surrounded by all my hot friends on an even hotter day doing sexy homework.  
**twink bara** : sexy homework  
**twink bara:** are you getting all hot and bothered?  
**glasses kink** : SO HOT AND BOTHERED.  
**glasses kink:** let’s meet around noon?  
**sensual strawberries:** thank you.  
**sensual keystroke** : i’ll hangout!  
**The Hot Class Prez:** Alright, see you tomorrow.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist:** Leblanc is much cooler than my dorm room so maybe i’ll be able to concentrate.  
**glasses kink** : see you sexy people tomorrow.  
**_{The chat thread has been closed.}_**

For one rare night, Akira was able to actually get to sleep. He had formed a bad habit of passing out with the oxygen mask on and after the fourth night of him doing it Takemi gave him a machine to plug in so he could just sleep with it on. She changed his mask to a nose piece and told him to just sleep with it on if it helps. 

It was shortly after he managed to get to sleep when the sound of Morgana talking to himself woke him right back up. He sounded upset and it had Akira worried,” Mona.” Akira mumbled. “What’s wrong?” 

“N-nothing. Sorry I woke you up.” Morgana moved up the bed to sit next to Akira’s head,” You should just go back to sleep.” 

“Tell me what’s wrong first.” Akira stared at the not-cat.

“Uhhh, my sunburns were hurting. So it woke me up. Imagine how bad Ryuji’s must be.” Morgana lied, or did he? Could cats get sunburned? 

“Can… cats get sunburned?” Akira asked as the thought moved from his brain to his mouth. 

“I’m not a cat!” Morgana snapped as usual before he looked a little more somber,” Can I ask you something?” Morgana waited until Akira nodded before he continued,” Hypothetically speaking, what would you do if I turned out to be a weird… thing?” 

“Oh.” Akira woke up a bit more as he stared at Morgana,” Even if you turned out to be a weird thing, Mona is still Mona.” Akira reached up to give Morgana a pet on the head. 

“Stop!” Morgana pawed Akira’s hand away,” Why wouldn’t it bother you? I’d be bothered by it!” Morgana sighed and stared down at the bed,” I woke up because I had a bad dream yeah, I… I was somewhere, it looked like Mementos. I… I think I might be a shadow? If I am… would it be okay for me to stay with the Phantom Thieves? Right now I’m pretty useless. I can’t navigate better than Futaba, you and everyone else are better fighters. What’s the point of me?” Morgana was letting his feelings just kind of come out and Akira felt for him. 

“Mona,” Akira moved to sit up and gave the not-cat a careful pet down his back. “You don’t have to be useful to be part of the team.” Akira promised. “You’re a founder. As far as I’m concerned you’re the heart of the team, okay?” 

“Akira…” Morgana sniffled,” I have gotten pretty used to being a cat, and living with you in this storage room. I don’t know if I could handle being a human with all the stuff you get involved with.” 

“I don’t know what I would do without you literally hanging on my shoulder all the time.” Akira teased as he was still petting Morgana which seemed to be calming the not-cat down for now. 

“You know, I gotta admit I wouldn’t mind just staying as a cat if it came down to being this or something else not human.” Morgana pawed the bed,” If that happens… can I stay with you still?”

“Morgana, you can stay with me as long as you can stand to be around me.” Akira promised,” Or as long as I manage to live, whichever comes first.” 

“You’re going to be just fine. You and Akechi looked pretty close today.” Morgana did his best grin,” A few more days like that and I bet you’ll be pulling out those roots in no time.” 

“I hope so.” Akira smiled,” Hey, can I hug you or is that weird?” 

“I’ll permit it.” Morgana nodded before Akira gathered Morgana up in his arms to hold him close. Morgana’s head went over his shoulder and as Akira rubbed circles into his fur the not-cat began to purr. They sat like that for a while before Akira got tired again. He set Morgana back on the bed then got comfortable once again and Morgana, rather than return to sleeping by Akira’s feet, snuggled up in the space between Akira’s neck and his arm, still purring as he went back to sleep and lulled Akira into a dreamless sleep as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i was told that there are times that you should and shouldn’t be posting fic bc it actively affects who will actually see it. it’s was an interesting read and honestly i think this might be the difference between two weeks and this last week since last week was really quiet on the engagement but two weeks ago i had a tonne of people. so yeah. i’ll be more mindful of that going forward. that just means i’ll be keeping to updating my fic around 10am pst on saturdays.
> 
> anyway, i took like a week off from writing to give my poor wrist a good break. then i got a solid wrist wrap to keep me from making things worse while i’m writing so yay on that. this does mean i’m on the third to last chapter if my planning is right.
> 
> onto things regarding this chapter now, i had fun giving akira and akechi a cute beach date turned mission kind of thing. it’s almost like a preview of what would happen if they did have a kid. :gasp: jk...unless…. something i wanted to change from the game to my fic is mona in general. i took out the being a huge perv thing because honestly it’s an overrated trope and i’m over it. with that i wanted akira to actually DEFEND mona rather than just stand there and let him get treated like shit. akira loves his not-cat! don’t mess with a man’s not-cat.
> 
> preview:  
>  _ **Goro** : Well, this is why I stepped up to help you isn’t it? I’ll talk with him. I know he already doesn’t like me.  
>  **Goro** : It won’t change anything about how we interact, and it won’t ruin your trip together.  
>  **Akira** : please. i’ll owe you my life.  
>  **Goro** : Careful, there may be a day I come to collect on that. Haha.  
>  **Akira** : if you want it you can have it. it’s a mess though.  
> _


	17. pressure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> upon returning to school akira, ann, and ryuji suddenly remember they’re going on a trip to hawaii. it’s exciting at first but before they even land akira starts to have problems. he almost wishes he went on the yasogami camping trip instead…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sup?

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:06pm: **twink bara** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**twink bara** : so now that we dealt with medjed and were more popular more of mementos is going to open up right?  
**Sexy Lobster Artist:** I believe that’s how it’s worked so far.  
**PrinceType:** I really have to wonder if that’s how it works.  
**PrinceType** : Or if perhaps it’s something else, like the Will Seeds?  
**sensual keystroke** : oooo, maybe.  
**glasses kink:** they do kind of make special items… then jose fucks with them and they start doing some awesome stuff.  
**PrinceType** : Mementos is truly an odd place.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : Perhaps the next palace we do we should see if it’s the Will Seeds that allow us to go down.  
**glasses kink** : mona says he’s pretty sure it’s based on how well known we are.  
**glasses kink** : but he can’t remember clearly why he knows that.  
**PrinceType** : Well, is that rule set in infamy or not in the question then.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : I think it would make sense if it were based on general knowledge of us and not just on whether or not people view us as good or not.  
**sensual strawberries** : so you think even if everyone thought we were evil we’d still be opening the mementos doors?  
**The Hot Class Prez** : I believe so.  
**twink bara** : so we dont know a damn thing  
**twink bara** : thanks for nothing mona  
**glasses kink** : (ಠ ∩ಠ)  
**The Hot Class Prez** : I think the best way we can figure it out is to just keep going down.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : Perhaps after we settle back into school we should try to get to whatever bottom exists now?  
**PrinceType** : That might be for the best. We can keep on top of what’s down there and get stronger. Maybe we can find something about this criminal using the Metaverse?  
**glasses kink** : you think they’re using mementos?  
**PrinceType** : The other option would be that he’s getting into people’s palaces at an alarmingly fast pace and that frankly worries me if that’s the case.  
**glasses kink:** yikes. yeah. that’s terrifying.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : I think with Futaba in our ranks we’ll have a much easier time searching for everything in Mementos.  
**glasses kink** : !!!! FUTABA HELP ME FIND ALL THE STAR STAMPS.  
**sensual keystroke** : idk what those are yet but i’m down.  
**glasses kink** : STAR. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ STAMPS. 🔦🔦🔦🔦🔦  
**glasses kink** : that’s as close as i can get to what the stamper looks like.  
**PrinceType:** You are obsessed.  
**glasses kink:** stars are cool.  
**glasses kink** : i like stars.  
**glasses kink** : i like stars and the color red.  
**glasses kink:** and coffee.  
**sensual strawberries:** i’m taking notes for gifts.  
**glasses kink:** yes good.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : Back to mission point, we’ll be relying on Futaba for battle info and map guidance from now on, yes?  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : I think that makes the most sense. Her persona is quite literally the best fit for it and not fit for fighting.  
**PrinceType** : Agreed. It would be for the best so we have the rest of our resources focused in the fight instead.  
**sensual strawberries** : we’ll be counting on you, futaba-chan!  
**sensual keystroke** : (๑•́ ω •̀๑)  
**twink bara** : this feels way better than having some dumb cat guide us!  
**glasses kink** : **(ಠ ∩ಠ)**  
**twink bara:** its a joke bro  
**glasses kink** : (¬_¬)  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The next day after the homework crunch, Sojiro offered to take Akira and Futaba out for sushi. Akira promised Morgana sushi before the three of them set off for their lunch. It wasn’t a super meaningful lunch, they just sat around and ate, but to Akira it felt like family. It felt nice. He wanted this feeling to stay with him. He wanted to stay right here.

Akira paused at this thought as he let himself stew on it. His brother was looking forward to him coming home, and even if his parents wouldn’t accept him he had a place to stay at the textile shop, so he could go home, but was it really home? Back in Inaba all he had done was study and what else? He didn’t really do much else. Here he helped so many people and made so many friends he didn’t know what to do with his time on some days.

Akira was thinking ahead, however. It was brave of him to assume he was going to actually survive his hanahaki. Something on his face must have tipped Sojiro off because once Futaba ran off to the bathroom he spoke,” how are things going with that detective kid?” 

“Huh?” Akira looked at Sojiro confused but when he was just given a knowing look. “It’s… not going badly,” Akira answered,” it’s hard to figure out how he’d react.”

“I was petrified when I had my hanahaki.” Sojiro sipped his tea. “I didn’t think I was going to make it.” 

“What happened?” Akira wondered. “I mean, you’re alive so it had to go well but…” 

“Well, she figured me out when I was trying to figure her out. I think anyone who gets hanahaki is like that. You spend a long time just trying to figure out if they would even _maybe_ like you.” Sojiro laughed. “I keep saying it was when I was younger, but three years ago feels like a decade ago now…” 

“Futaba’s mother?” Akira questioned. 

“Yeah,” Sojiro admitted,” she was really special. When she accepted me she told me she figured out my hanahaki ages ago but she wanted to do some research on it’s connection to cognition before saying anything.” Sojiro laughed. “While we loved each other we were content just being close friends in the end. I don’t think I’ll love another like her.” Sojiro admitted.

“Isn’t that the case with hanahaki?” Akira asked. 

“Depends on the person. Most hanahaki people stay with the person they bloomed for. It’s like the garden knows better than the person that _that’s_ the person meant for you. That’s why seeding happens before we even realize how we feel.” Sojiro adjusted his glasses. “Just don’t give up okay? You’re actually a good kid. I’d hate to have to bury you.” 

“Thanks Sojiro.” Akira smiled almost bitterly but he knew what Sojiro meant and it was comforting.

When it came time to pay, Akira helped when the price was more than Sojiro expected so they could get Morgana’s sushi still. Akira still felt bad about the time they’d had sushi for him but then had to leave it to Sojiro when they ended up in his house looking for Futaba. 

Upon returning home Akira was greeted by Morgana as soon as he walked in the door. It was almost too funny to see how excited Morgana got to be able to dig into the sushi as Akira got a message from Futaba.

_** FUTABA SAKURA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _5:17pm: **Futaba** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Futaba** : ground control to akira, i have a request!  
**Akira** : what’s up?  
**Futaba** : there’s somewhere i want to go.  
**Futaba** : can you provide backup for me?  
**Akira** : sure?  
**Futaba** : there’s a game i want but i’m kind of scared to go to akiba alone.  
**Akira** : i can go with you.  
**Futaba** : thank youuuuu.  
**Futaba** : we can meet there. i already know how to get there from us taking the trains to the beach so it’ll be a cinch. DON’T TRY TO SPEED RUN TO THE TRAIN TO MEET ME BEFORE.  
**Futaba** : we’ll meet in front of the electronic store.  
**Akira** : okay okay.  
**Futaba** : perfect. see you there!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _11:15pm: **twink bara** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**twink bara** : guys our approval rating is over 60% now!  
**sensual keystroke** : awww, stop it you. (๑•́ ω •̀๑)  
**twink bara:** i wasnt talking about you!  
**The Hot Class Prez** : It IS thanks to Futaba though. Her silencing Medjed has gained us a lot of traction in the world news.  
**sensual keystroke:** ooooooh, get dunked on nerd.  
**sensual strawberries:** i’m a little scared of how fast we’re gaining popularity.  
**PrinceType:** It’s bound to happen considering the level of renown our last target was.  
**glasses kink** : i don’t see why it matters.  
**twink bara:** bro why the cold shoulder?  
**twink bara:** everyones expectations are so high for us!  
**twink bara:** we gotta make sure theyre answered!  
**PrinceType** : What I’m hoping comes out of this is some desperation from the criminal using the Metaverse to hurt people.  
**PrinceType** : He might make a bad move or slip up somewhere.  
**glasses kink** : let’s start looking for people who can understand mona when he talks.  
**twink bara** : something useful he can do  
**glasses kink** : **(ಠ_ಠ)**  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : I am interested in knowing how this person has been working in the shadows.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : Do you think they know about us?  
**PrinceType** : I’d be concerned if he didn’t at this point. Though it’s questionable if he knows who we are or if he just knows of us.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:25am: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : what is this poll?  
**Yuuki** : It’s the new feature I told you about!  
**Yuuki** : So you can pick your next target!  
**Akira** : hmmmm.  
**Yuuki** : Does it work for you guys?  
**Akira** : we have to talk about it.  
**Akira** : just don’t get upset if we don’t use it.  
**Yuuki** : I got it.  
**Akira** : thanks for understanding. 🖤  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _12:07pm: **sensual strawberries** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**sensual strawberries** : i totes forgot we were going to hawaii.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist:** ????  
**glasses kink** : i’m so glad i did a “crime” otherwise i would have just been on a shitty camping trip.  
**PrinceType** : I’m assuming this is your school trip?  
**twink bara:** hell yeah  
**twink bara** : were gunna hit that white sandy beach  
**glasses kink** : i’m about one more trip away from being tired of sand and beaches.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : Were there any beaches close to Inaba?  
**glasses kink** : shichiri beach but it’s super far out and the only way to get there in a decent time is by vehicle.  
**glasses kink** : if i was back in inaba right now i’d have gotten a licence by now.  
**glasses kink:** but who needs one of those in tokyo? the trains are great.  
**glasses kink** : i love being a sardine pressed up against the doors every morning.  
**PrinceType** : There are benefits to knowing how to drive.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : I enjoy driving.  
**sensual keystroke** : i also enjoy driving.  
**glasses kink** : your racer back gaming chair does not turn hacking into driving.  
**sensual keystroke** : SAYS YOU.  
**PrinceType** : When is your class going on your trip?  
**glasses kin** k: the 7th-11th.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : I’ll be going as well.  
**twink bara** : uhhhh why?  
**The Hot Class Prez** : The police are questioning the teachers again about the Phantom Thieves so they have to stay. To make up for that some third years will be acting as chaperones.  
**glasses kink** : akechi come volunteer to chaperone for my school.  
**PrinceType** : As fun as that would be I’ll be passing. I’m part of the team questioning your teachers.  
**glasses kink** : rip  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : I had to confirm something myself, it seems my school is going to Los Angeles during the same time.  
**glasses kink:** that’ll make the japan team akechi, mona, and futaba.  
**glasses kink** : you guys will be holding down the fort.  
**sensual keystroke** : goro and i take turns caring for mona. we trade the kitty every other day.  
**PrinceType** : My apartment doesn’t allow animals.  
**glasses kink:** “I’M NOT A CAT.” - mona 20XX  
**sensual keystroke** : can’t you tell them he’s not a cat?  
**PrinceType** : He may not be a cat, but he looks like one.  
**sensual keystroke** : sorry mona. sounds like it’s just you and me.  
**glasses kink** : poor mona, he’ll never see the sun again.  
**sensual keystroke** : his fur will wash out from lack of sun.  
**sensual keystroke** : if only someone who went outside could at least take him out on walks.  
**sensual keystroke** : or at least take him to work to show him how the police work from the inside.  
**PrinceType** : I am NOT taking him to work with me. Do you have any idea how many people would question what I was doing if I had a cat in my briefcase. Nevermind that he wouldn’t even fit in there comfortably anyway.  
**glasses kink** : fair.  
**sensual keystroke** : valid. just mona and me alone in a dark room pirating the latest featherman movie bc as much as i wanna support yukari-chan’s career i can’t solo a theatre. the level on that mission is too high.  
**PrinceType** : … Futaba-chan, while they’re all out of the country do you want to see a movie?  
**sensual keystroke** : !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
**PrinceType** : If Kurusu leaves his bag we’ll take Mona.  
**glasses kink:** done.  
**sensual keystroke** : LET’S GOOOOOOOO.  
**PrinceType** : Let’s make it the Saturday they’re gone. So the 10th, okay?  
**sensual keystroke** : yes!  
**glasses kink** : take care of my little sister akechi. no flirting.  
**PrinceType** : I believe you’ll be out of the country and unable to stop me from doing anything.  
**PrinceType** : But I won’t be flirting with anyone.  
**glasses kink** : that’s reserved for me right?  
**PrinceType** : Of course.  
**twink bara** : everyones flirting is reserved for you  
**sensual strawberries** : everyone wants akira.  
**glasses kink** : everyone wants me. fish fear me.  
**sensual keystroke** : that’s going on a t-shirt.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : Are there any certain souvenirs you three would want? Since I know Mona’s reading this too.  
**PrinceType** : I’ll accept anything.  
**sensual keystroke** : i expect at least one coconut you can drink out of.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : I will also try to bring something back. Though I don’t have much money.  
**glasses kink** : the hell you don’t. yusuke where are you? i’m giving you a travel allowance.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : 😳  
**The Hot Class Prez:** We’re at school Akira.  
**glasses kink** : after school i’m tracking you down and giving you money yusuke.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : I… will accept.  
**sensual strawberries:** i want a shirt that’s something like ‘i ❤️ LA’ on it yusuke!  
**glasses kin** k: get us all matching shirts.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : I will try.  
**sensual keystroke** : i’m excited for you all to leave already. i want to see featherman.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : Lunch is almost over, you better head back to class soon.  
**twink bara:** hhhhhhhhh  
**glasses kink:** hhhhhhhh  
**sensual strawberries:** hhhhhhhhh  
**twink bara:** oh yeah before we go lets have another operation meeting since the semester started  
**twink bara:** lets just meet at the old station hang out for it  
**glasses kink:** why the old one?  
**twink bara:** it should be a short one right?  
**twink bara** : we can just talk about what we plan to do this week before the trip real quick  
**The Hot Class Prez** : That’s actually not a bad idea.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : The usual time?  
**twink bara** : yeah!  
**PrinceType** : I’ll be able to make it.  
**glasses kink** : see you guys all there.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

As the afternoon arrived the party met up at the station hideout. The Shujin crew were last to arrive as Futaba sat on the floor with her laptop with Akechi and Yusuke on either side of her. Once they were close enough Futaba greeted them and they began to talk.

“So, what did you want to talk about Ryuji?” Makoto questioned. 

“I wanted to know about what we plan to do about another big target?” Ryuji spoke excitedly. 

“Is the target really that important? Shouldn’t we be focusing on the villain in the cognitive world?” Yusuke crossed his arms. “It would be more useful for us to spend our time trying to track down that person.” 

“That’s true but we don’t have any clues regarding them.” Makoto shook her head. “All we have is that that person is inducing mental shutdowns but we don’t know what reasons.” 

“Yeah but like you said Makoto, we don’t have any clues,” Ryuji scratched the side of his head. “I think instead of focusing on that we should be trying to capitalize on our popularity. Everyone at school is talking about us and we’re always on TV! We’ve totes made it big and we gotta go even bigger to keep it going!” Ryuji was just shy of shouting at this point. 

“Can you keep your voice down?” Akechi snapped. 

“Relax dude, no one’s listening.” Ryuji rolled his eyes.

“Ryuji is right though. We’re pretty popular. The Phan-Site rankings have been going crazy too.” Ann nodded. “The first place ranking keeps changing by the second.”

“Yeah, Yuuki’s been pretty proud of that feature. He was wondering if we were going to use it.” Akira leaned around Futaba to look as she brought up the site to look at it. “If we did it would make it obvious we use the site for requests and stuff.” 

“Well, with Futaba’s skills it wouldn’t be hard to make an official site like Medjed had.” Akechi commented. “Though I think this site serves its purpose well enough.” Akechi looked at Akira. “You know the admin of this site? Rather more importantly he knows who you are?” 

“Ah, yeah. He’s cool though and I’m the only one he knows about.” Akira promised. “He just knows I’m the go between for the info he has and the Thieves.” 

“Guys if we go after one of these guys I bet we score some big cash at least once!” Ryuji kneeled down to look over Futaba’s shoulder as well. “What would you do with money like that, Akira?” 

“I don’t need it.” Akira frowned. “Our goal isn’t cash.” 

“You don’t need to be all stoic about it.” Ryuji pouted,” We gotta keep going after big targets so we get more well known right? So what if we get some cash in between?” 

“The cash is a bonus,” Akechi said, surprising Akira,” but Sakamoto has a point. We need to continue going after large targets. Not just for the renown, but because this villain might take us more seriously if we start causing enough trouble for him. I think this poll could help us figure out the best person to target.” 

Akira didn’t like this Twilight Area episode he’d fallen into. Akechi was agreeing with Ryuji and he was in support of using the poll? Who was this Akechi and what did he do with Akira’s Detective Prince?

Akira stood back up to listen as Ryuji jumped at the opportunity Akechi’s support was giving him. “Hell yeah. If we can change the heart of the person causing the mental shutdowns then we’ve nailed the biggest target. If we can make him confess to everything then we’ll literally be on top of the world! Ohhh you think we should reveal our identities then? We’d get swarmed by adoring fans~!” 

“Hey, wait, slow down,” Ann waved a hand,” you want us to show our faces? Isn’t it risky?” Ann looked to Akechi. 

“I think it depends on the context of it.” Akechi mused,” Finding the cause of the shutdowns and forcing him to turn himself in would do a lot. As it is the police think the Phantom Thieves are the ones doing it.” 

“It would expose the Metaverse if the true culprit confesses his actions.” Yusuke spoke. “There wouldn’t be much point in hiding after we do that.”

“Who--” Akira was about to ask who the hell this Akechi was when Morgana cut in. 

“Being unknown is the allure of being a phantom thief!” Morgana snapped. “We’re not doing this for fame!” 

“Yeah but look at the news Morgana. We’re so popular people will be begging us to show our faces. They’ll make anime after us!” Ryuji insisted. 

“Let’s shelf this talk for now.” Makoto looked about as uncomfortable as Akira did. “Let’s talk about how to even find this person first rather than plan a reveal party.” 

“Yeah.” Akira agreed, chewing the inside of his cheek as he kept staring at Akechi. This wasn’t like him at all. Something was going on and Akira didn’t like it. Rather than press about it now he looked at Makoto. “Your sister was looking into the cognitive world right? Maybe she had some clues?” 

“I could ask about it but she would just get mad at me and tell me to mind my own business.” Makoto sighed. 

“She’s also been rather guarded with me when I ask her about it.” Akechi commented. 

“Well, the best thing we can do then is just get the data out of her instead then.” Futaba chuckled, then looked between Makoto and Akechi. “Does she have a personal laptop?” 

“She does,” Makoto nodded,” wait… don’t tell me you have--” 

“I do!” Futaba pulled a flash drive out of her pocket. “One of you can get the data off of her computer with this. The question is who feels more confident with it?” 

“Sae-san never leaves her laptop out in the open at work. It would be up to Makoto-chan.” Akechi shook his head. 

“I wouldn’t even know what to put in it!” Makoto was starting to panic. 

“It’s okay, it’s already all set up to just copy the memory of whatever device it’s plugged into, all you have to do is get enough time for the copying to happen.” Futaba wiggled the USB at Makoto until she took it. 

“This is so not a good idea.” Makoto sighed. “So I really just have to plug it in?” 

“Yep.” Futaba flashed Makoto a grin. “We’ll be counting on you. If you get it done before you leave then I can use that time you guys are gone to look through the data too.”

“If it’s possible I’ll do it.” Makoto sighed. “This is going to either go very well or very poorly.” 

“We believe in you Makoto.” Akira offered her a smile before looking at Akechi again. Something was still not right here. Akira just needed to figure out what. 

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _6:47pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : i’m just going to come out and say it.  
**Akira** : you’re acting weird…  
**Goro** : Meaning?  
**Akira** : you’re agreeing with ryuji for one thing.  
**Akira** : mostly that.  
**Akira** : yeah it’s that.  
**Akira** : like the idea of being more popular and getting cash and even showing our faces???  
**Akira** : it’s all kind of… not what i expected of you????  
**Goro** : …  
**Goro** : I see your point.  
**Akira** : are you okay?  
**Akira** : is someone holding you at gun point?  
**Akira** : do we need to hide you?  
**Goro** : No.  
**Goro** : Calm down.  
**Goro** : I just… I don’t know how to explain it so I suppose I’ll just say it plainly. I was trying out being a bit more agreeable with what I think are bad ideas.  
**Goro** : I find it a bit comforting you realized something was off though.  
**Akira** : it’s really hard not to.  
**Akira** : like… maybe the others didn’t say anything because they don’t care?  
**Akira** : or maybe they did say something and I don’t know shit.  
**Goro** : No one has said anything.  
**Goro** : I think this is another case of your insight being spot on.  
**Akira** : it’s my crystal ball.  
**Goro** : How very occult of you.  
**Goro** : At any rate, I may continue to pursue this experiment in the future. Please ignore it.  
**Akira** : i guess i could…  
**Goro** : I could treat you to another jazz date.  
**Akira** : deal.  
**Goro** : How about after you come back from your trip?  
**Akira** : i’ll make sure to buy a hawaiian shirt for our date.  
**Goro** : I can’t really stop you…  
**Akira** : but you’d hate it.  
**Goro** : Very astute.  
**Akira** : i guess i’ll pass on it then.  
**Goro** : Have a good night, Kurusu.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_________________________________________________________

Makoto’s mission to gather data from her sister managed to go rather well. They met up the day after she got the information to look over what they could with the time they had. Sae had apparently connected the shutdowns together and was well into figuring a possible culprit. Futaba would need more time to go over it but they had a possible lead now. The only problem was that Ryuji was back to talking poorly about Morgana. It left Morgana feeling upset and Akira feeling annoyed. When it came time to head home Akira ws devising the best way to talk to Ryuji without causing a fight right before their trip. 

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:30pm: **Goro** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Goro** : Are you alright?  
**Goro** : You seemed rather short tonight.  
**Akira** : is that a jab at my height or…? because you’ve only got, like, two inches on me. :/  
**Goro** : I mean in your replies.  
**Akira** : ah. well...  
**Akira** : ryuji’s been kind of pissing me off with how he’s been talking about mona.  
**Akira** : and it’s been hurting mona’s confidence.  
**Akira** : i’m about to sit his ass down and have a long talk with him about how he needs to chill out about the way he talks about things. between mona AND the phantom thieves…  
**Goro** : It is rather serious. I’m surprised you haven’t done it already.  
**Akira** : it’s hard for me to find a good time and with the trip coming up i’m not trying to spoil the whole thing. maybe i’m just extra annoyed because my sleeping issues are catching up with me.  
**Goro** : Well, this is why I stepped up to help you isn’t it? I’ll talk with him. I know he already doesn’t like me.  
**Goro** : It won’t change anything about how we interact, and it won’t ruin your trip together.  
**Akira** : please. i’ll owe you my life.  
**Goro** : Careful, there may be a day I come to collect on that. Haha.  
**Akira** : if you want it you can have it. it’s a mess though.  
**Goro** : I’ll think about it. For now I’ll talk to Sakamoto.  
**Akira** : thank you.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** RYUJI SAKAMOTO ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _1:25am: **Ryuji** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji** : tell mona i said sorry  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The day of the trip to Hawaii came and Akira was all packed. However, Morgana had been avoiding him for a lot of the last week. The only times Akira could get a chance to speak with him was when he woke up in the morning to find the not-cat sleeping at the foot of his bed, or during times when Akira had a coughing fit. Akira wanted to promise to bring back something fun for Morgana but when he approached the not-cat sitting on the couch Morgana was short with him. Focusing instead on getting onto the next job. Once Morgana said his piece he left the room and ignored any further attempts of Akira speaking to him. There was no choice but to just leave him be.

Getting onto the plane was simple enough but shortly after take off Akira realized he had made a mistake. The cabin pressure hit him rather hard. He could feel the lack of oxygen in the air and toll it took on his lungs was making the hanahaki rattle around when it shouldn’t. There were a few times he had to excuse himself to the bathroom to cough up some petals and flush them. They were bloodier than normal and it left him feeling dizzy. He was worried that this was going to kill him in the air. He should have checked with Takemi how well he would be able to take a flight across the ocean before he got on the plane but he was too excited to check.

“Akira, are you okay?” Yuuki asked when Akira came back after the third tip.

“Fine, just a little nauseated.” Akira nodded, swallowing down another petal that wanted to come up but he just wanted to sit down and sleep. He felt more dizzy and weak than he had ever felt before. “Haven’t been on a flight before.”

“I get ya. Do you wanna trade spots so you can get out easier?” Yuuki asked as Akira wiggled past him. Akira paused and looked to Yuuki, wondering if he should trade, but then he pictured Kawakami getting mad at him over it and shook his head. 

“Thanks but no.” Akira offered him a smile before he sat back down and let his head fall back against the chair, he was so tired now. It was just hard to tell if it was from having to get up and down so many times or if it was the damage to his lungs. Shit, he wished he had brought his inhaler. He just didn’t want it being waved around at the airport. 

When it came to landing Akira had never been happier in his life. His chest was so sore and he could taste the blood on the back of his tongue. After they were out of the airport and on the bus Akira leaned against the window to just stare out at the buildings they passed by. Ryuji was bouncing around excitedly so all eyes were on him instead and he assumed people just thought Akira was trying to distance himself from Ryuji.

When it came to hotel room assignments Akira was looking so pale and worn out that Ann noticed,” Akira you okay?” 

“Plane bad.” Akira mumbled, removing his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. He wished he hadn’t gotten his eyes checked before the trip. The new prescriptions were messing with him on top of his chest hurting.

“Eeesh you look like you need to lay down.” Ryuji leaned around to look Akira in the eye. “Hey let’s cut the room assignment bullshit and just go get one together.” 

“No, Sakamoto-kun.” Kawakami called as she approached. “You’re in another class so you can’t room with him. That being said, Kurusu-kun are you okay?” 

“Fantastic.” Akira felt like he was going to throw-up something and he was worried about it being flowers. “Yuuki, room with me.” Akira reached for Yuuki to throw an arm around him for support. He had only just approached them so it was a surprise but Akira was willing to go with anyone at this point. At least Yuuki was his friend.

“Sure.” Yuuki sounded concerned as he held Akira’s arm firmly around him tp support him. “Sensei do you have the keys?” 

“Yeah, here.” Kawakami passed the keys to Yuuki. “Sakamoto-kun you’ll be reporting to Niijima-san for your room assignment, but Kusuru-kun do you need help getting to your room?” 

“Maybe.” Akira answered before Ryuji tucked up under his other arm to help Yuuki guide him to their room. Ann brought up the rear with Akira’s bag while Kawakami pulled along Yuuki’s. Once in their room they carefully dumped Akira onto the nearest bed.

“Okay, Takamaki-san and Sakamoto-kun, you two get your rooms set. I’ll make sure he’s okay.” Kawakami dismissed the other two who started to argue they wanted to stay before she firmly told them to get out. Almost as soon as the door shut behind them, Akira rolled out of the bed and crawled to the bathroom. Kurusu-kun?” Kawakami followed after him with Yuuki on her tail as Akira gripped the toilet then coughed into the bowl. He couldn’t stop himself from showing this to the two still in the room. After some rather vigorous coughs out came not just a few petals but a whole bloomed flower, and it was bloody. “Oh. Shit.” 

“That’s…” Yuuki said wide eyed at the flower floating along the surface of the water, the blood diffusing in it. 

“Please tell me the person this is for is on this trip.” Kawakami sounded very worried. If he had to guess she was probably thinking Akira was in the stage of confess or die. Honestly Akira was starting to think that himself but his more logical brain told him he was just weak because of the flight over.

“No.” Akira shook his head.

“Shit.” Kawakami let out a sigh then dug money out of her pocket to throw at Yuuki. “Mishima, get a water bottle from the lobby, don’t tell anyone about this. Got it?” 

“Yes ma’am!” Yuuki said quickly then ran out of the room. 

“Tell me you’ve seen a doctor about this.” Kawakami helped Akira sit back up to put him back on the bed. Akira couldn’t manage to speak so he just nodded. “This should have been reported to the school after being this far along. You shouldn’t have gotten on a plane with this.” Kawakami made Akira look up at her before she pulled out a handkerchief to clean away the blood still on his face. “There’s nothing we can do about it now. Please, tell me you have medication.” Akira again couldn’t speak so he shook his head. “If we were in literally any other country that would be fine but this is America… Getting treatment here is expensive…” 

Kawakami sighed as she stood away from him in deep thought,” Well, let’s have you rest for the remainder of the day and tonight then see where you are after. The flight is what hurt you the most. Depending on how long you take to recover or not we’ll have to take you to the hospital and find different accommodations to get you home.” There was a knock at the door to which Kawakami checked the peephole before letting Yuuki in. “Don’t forget your key again.” 

“Sorry.” Yuuki said sheepishly before he moved to Akira to offer him the water. “You feeling better?” 

“Thanks.” Akira said with some difficulty as he accepted the bottle to take a drink. It did wonders for his poor throat and washed down the taste of blood.

“Okay, well, Mishima-kun, keep an eye on him for me? I need to make sure everyone is roomed up properly. I’ll come back and check on him after that so you can eat dinner. This should go without saying but you can’t tell anyone about this, got it? I don’t want everyone to start panicking about it. There was already a big enough mess with his record getting leaked when he started.” Kawakami warned Yuuki sternly. Once she was sure that Yuuki had gotten her point she turned to leave the room.

There was a long silence between the two of them,” So… who’s it for? The guy you slept with?” 

“No.” Akira answered simply before he capped the bottle and laid down. 

“Sorry if that was out of line. Do, uh, the Phantom Thieves know?” Yuuki wondered. 

“Some.” Akira answered by taking his glasses off to put them on the table as he kicked off his shoes to curl up. 

“I’ll shut up and let you sleep.” Yuuki said before he shuffled off to the side to start quietly digging in his suitcase. Akira soon fell to sleep to the sound of keyboard clacking.

_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:06pm: **Ann** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ann** : are you okay akira?  
**Ann** : we’re all really worried about you.  
**Ann** : we’re going to wait around in the lobby for you tomorrow so please feel better. ):  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ RYUJI SAKAMOTO _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _10:22pm: **Ryuji** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji** : hey bro  
**Ryuji** : is this hanahaki related?  
**Ryuji** : let me know  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ MAKOTO NIIJIMA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _11:00pm: **Makoto** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Makoto** : Ann and Ryuji told me you weren’t doing well.  
**Makoto** : If there’s anything I can do to help please tell me  
**Makoto** : I’m worried about you.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The following morning Akira woke feeling groggy but better. He could breathe so that was already a good start. He let out a slight groan as he checked his phone for messages from everyone on the trip. This wasn’t a good thing. Now Ann and Makoto were on high alert and Ryuji was probably panicking. He just hoped Ryuji could keep his mouth shut under the intense gaze of the two girls. For now if Akira didn’t come up with a good excuse he was going to have to explain everything and he wasn’t ready for that yet.

“G’morning.” Yuuki called from the table. “You feeling better?” 

“Yeah.” Akira nodded,” Sorry about all that yesterday. Thanks for helping me.” Akira stood rubbing a hand over his chest as he did. 

“So, it’s really not me right?” Yuuki raised an eyebrow. 

“No.” Akira mumbled. “I know exactly who it is. He’s not here, so please don’t confess to me suddenly. I’m not in the mood for more of that.” 

“Only if you insist.” Yuuki tried to offer a smile. “The Phan-Site is popping off by the way. The poll has a lot of people on it and the forums are flooded with Phantom Thief support.” Yuuki explained with an excited look on his face. “And do you remember that Akechi guy from the TV station?” Suddenly Akira was more interested,” his popularity went right into the garbage! That’s what he gets for speaking out against the Phantom Thieves.” 

“He doesn’t speak out against them all that much though.” Akira frowned. Akechi had been careful with his wording after joining them, sure he said that people should rely on them but it was true. People needed to be able to work out their lives on their own too. “Everything I’ve seen was him trying to be objective.” 

“I guess. That guy just rubs me the wrong way.” Yuuki frowned. “He gives me the feeling of a snake in the grass.” 

“Can you move onto another topic?” Akira was getting annoyed. “Actually, I’m just going to shower.” Akira waved him off then went to the bathroom to be alone. Once Akira was done and dressed again he came out to find Kawakami in his room. “Hey teach.”

“You look better.” Kawakami looked him over. “How do you feel?” 

“I feel like I would love to get out of this room and go explore or something.” Akira sighed. 

“Okay, but keep close to the hotel. If you have another attack you tell me right away. I’m making arrangements to get an inhaler for you.” Kawakami sighed. “Please just be careful. You’re sure the source isn’t here?” 

“I swear he’s not.” Akira insisted.

“Okay. Then go on. Mishima-kun you better not spend the whole trip on that computer either.” Kawakami warned him before she left with Akira following closely behind her. 

Akira went right down to the lobby to find Ann and Ryuji both already talking in hushed tones. He slid in next to them to listen in without drawing attention to himself. “If he’s too sick to go out what should we do?” Ann asked. 

“I mean, we’re in Hawaii, he’d want us to have fun still right?” Ryuji muttered. 

“I guess, but it makes me feel bad.” Ann hugged her arms close to her. Akira glanced to his side as Makoto joined them just as quietly as Akira did and took note of the fact they had yet to notice Akira yet so she also kept quiet. 

“It’ll be fine! We can get him some souvenirs too.” Ryuji insisted. “We can’t just ruin our whole trip because Akira’s sick.” 

Akira was starting to wonder how long they were going to go without noticing him. Akira was fine with letting this joke carry out but then Yusuke joined them. “Hello.” Yusuke greeted them. 

“Hey Yusuke. Wait, Yusuke?” Ryuji turned to greet him then spotted Akira. “AND AKIRA!” 

“Morning.” Akira greeted them. 

“Are you feeling okay?!” Ann questioned. 

“Yep. Just some of the worst motion sickness I’ve ever had in my life.” Akira adjusted his glasses. “Sorry for worrying you guys.” 

“Had me freakin’ out there man.” Ryuji threw an arm around Akira. “Okay, let’s go do something fun today right?” Ryuji grinned before suddenly something else came to him. “WAIT, what **is** Yusuke doing here?” 

“There was a storm brewing pretty badly on the west coast so rather than cancel the whole trip we were rerouted to here. You were saying Akira wasn’t feeling well?” Yusuke gave Akira a worried glance. 

“I’m fine. Kawakami-sensei just told me to not go diving for now. So how about shopping today?” Akira suggested,” We can get the knick-nack buying out of the way.” 

“Sounds good.” Makoto agreed. “Let’s go?” 

The rest of the day was spent wandering around looking for things to give their friends back home until lunch. Akira didn’t really spot anything he wanted to buy just yet but he was getting ideas. On the other side of the shopping, Ryuji complained about everything being the same as back in Japan, but it was hard to do anything significantly different in the area they had visited. By the end of the day Akira was back to being tired and was ready for bed. 

Almost as soon as he laid down there was a knock on the door. Akira expected Kawakami again but instead it was Ryuji,” the dude I’m roomin’ with brought his girlfriend back to the room. It was way too awkward to sit there so I left.” Ryuji plopped onto the edge of Akira’s bed. “How you feelin?” 

“Sleepy.” Akira answered plainly and laid back down in time for another knock. When Yuuki let the next person in it was Ann. “Is this an intervention or?” 

“The girl I’m rooming with went to her boyfriend’s room and took the key with her. I got locked out.” Ann complained.

“Sucks to suck.” Ryuji leaned back on Akira’s bed. “What are you going to do?” 

“I’ll just sleep here.” Ann sat on the couch. 

“Wha--” Yuuki flushed,” But, uhhhh, there’s only two beds.” 

“Ryuji can share mine.” Akira rolled his eyes. “Ann can take the sofa, are we done?” 

“Someone’s testy,” Ryuji raised an eyebrow. 

“I’m still not at 100% and I’m ready to sleep.” Akira sighed. He missed his oxygen.

“Yeah, you were looking a little pale.” Ann agreed. “Well, let’s get ready for bed!” The four of them divided up the bedding until Ann was set up comfy on the couch, Ryuji was kicked back next to Akira, and Yuuki was in the bathroom. 

“This is kinda fun, it’s like a sleep over,” Ann giggled,” how about we play a game like one?” 

“Sleepy.” Akira mumbled. 

“Just a little one!” Ann defended. “Liiiike, what kind of people we would date! Ryuji you go first.”

“Huh? Isn’t this cheating? You’re already dating Suzui!” Ryuji frowned. 

“Well, yeah, but we can figure out what kind of people you two like and get you some dates!” Ann sounded far too amused with herself.

“Fiiiine, uhhh,” Ryuji thought. “I like someone who’s modest and kind. A good personality. I don’t really need anyone complicated.” 

“Uh-huh,” Ann didn’t sound convinced,” and what if you had two people with equally good personalities confess to you?” 

“Uhhh, I guess it’s gotta be the hotter one?” Ryuji shrugged. 

“So you’re a guy who goes for looks huh?” Ann nailed Ryuji to the wall with that one. “The first answer is just what you think you want people to hear. The second is the truth.” 

“Hey!” Ryuji tried to defend himself,” Well, what about you Akira?!” Ryuji poked Akira’s shoulder to make him turn over some. Ryuji was really getting on his nerves tonight. He already knew the answer.

“Hhhhh,” Akira made the sound and tried to roll back into the comfortable position he’d found but Ryuji jabbed him again. Did Ryuji just want him to tell Ann everything too? “Akechi. Now fuck off.” Akira snapped, pulling his pillow over his face.

“Whoa, what?” Ann sat up. “You actually, like, like him like him? It’s not just your compulsive flirting?” 

“It doesn’t surprise me.” Ryuji chuckled, getting more comfortable. Akira was tempted to tell Ryuji off since he already knew what was going on but that would just cause more issues. “You and him are always on the same wavelength.” 

“I gotta agree.” Ann hummed thoughtfully. “You’re always thinking along the same lines and since he joined you two spend a lot of time together. I do gotta admit I thought you and Yusuke could have made a cute pair too. Ooo! Are you going to ask Akechi-kun out?” 

“No.” Akira said plainly. “I’m not asking anyone out ever. I’ll accept death first.”

“Dramatic… He gets really snappy when he’s tired huh?” Ann teased. “Oh well, let’s get some sleep.” 

_________________________________________

When the next morning came Akira wanted to get some time away from Ann and Ryuji. He wandered down to the beach in his swim trunks to just sit under a tree. He was fine by himself but soon there was someone tapping him on the head. Akira let out a sigh to look up at Kawakami. “Took me a little while to get this for you.” She said, offering him an inhaler. “Make sure you use that.” 

“Thanks.” Akira accepted the inhaler. He turned it over in his hands to inspect it. It looked the same as the ones he got from Takemi so it would be fine right? He didn’t think twice as he gave it a shake then upcapped it and put it to his mouth to take the medication.

“Good. When we get on the flight home I’ll have you sit with me on the end of the row.” Kawakami explained. “So, try to enjoy what you can here, okay?” 

“I’ll try. Thanks sensei.” Akira forced a smile before she turned to leave him. He watched her leave before spotting Yusuke walking toward him. “Hi Yusuke.” 

“Hello. You look a bit better than you did yesterday morning.” Yusuke sat down next to Akira. “You have an inhaler out here?” 

“I left mine back home and the flight actually messed me up pretty bad.” Akira placed a hand on his chest. “It irritated the crap out of my garden so I ended up coughing up a huge one the first day.” Akira admitted before rubbing the back of his neck. “Kawakami and Yuuki both saw it so she got me an inhaler for the way back.” 

“I was wondering if the flight would hurt you. I should have said something before.” Yusuke frowned. “How are you faring today?” 

“Could be better, could be worse. I woke up with Ryuji nearly kicking me out of my bed so there’s that. At least when I had you in bed with me you didn’t shove me over.” Akira sighed leaning against Yusuke.

“Ryuji was in your room?” 

“His roommate brought his girlfriend over so he dipped, then Ann ended up in our room because her roommate was in her boyfriend’s room with the key. I’m sure they’re connected.” Akira explained. “So it ended up being a mini-sleep over that ended with Ann asking about what kind of dates Ryuji and I would like and I admitted Akechi…” 

“Oh dear.” Yusuke sighed. “Well, it can’t hurt to have more people know who you’d like at least. Even if they don’t know the slightly more gory details.” They sat silently for a long time before Yusuke spoke again. “Have you had a chance to eat?” 

“No.” Akira shook his head.

“Let’s get you some food then.” Yusuke motioned for Akira to stop leaning on him so he could stand then help Akira stand as well. The two of them wandered around before finding a shrimp cart to pick up their meal. Akira was chewing absentmindedly on a piece of shrimp when he spotted Ryuji and Ann watching them in the distance. He frowned a little at the sight of them before turning to walk away. “Akira?” 

“I think they’ve been following us around all day.” Akira complained quietly.

“They?” Yusuke looked around. He apparently didn’t spot them though. “The others have been following?” 

“I saw them a second ago.” Akira answered. “I was excited for this trip until I started coughing up bloody flowers again.” Akira walked with Yusuke as far as he dared before sitting on a bench. “I shouldn’t be this annoyed.”

“You’ve had a rough time.” Yusuke shook his head.

“I’m sure Ryuji will be annoyed I didn’t spend time with him, and Ann will wonder why I’m seemingly having a beach date with you when I told her I liked Akechi last night.” Akira leaned against Yusuke again. “I’m just tired, Yusuke.” 

“I’d invite you to my room but my roommate isn’t very open to breaking rules.” Yusuke held their shrimp meal.

“Pity.” Akira sighed. “Thanks for being mellow.” 

“Well, I can spend this time with you looking around at artistic inspirations.” Yusuke motioned around at the beach in front of them doing his funny little box hand thing. “I’m rather glad my school made this change. I dread to think how you’d be handling things alone right now.” 

“Like an idiot. Thank fuck Akechi’s helping lead the Phantom Thieves. I’m a mess.” Akira brushed a hand through his hair. “You’ll be here another day right?” 

“Yes.” Yusuke confirmed. “You’ll be alright though.” 

“I’ll try to be.” Akira sighed. He was hoping tonight he could just sleep in a bed alone. “Tomorrow I’ll really buy some gifts for everyone. I saw a silly little pancake keychain when we were walking around the other day.” 

“Pancake?” Yusuke questioned. 

“Yeah, thought about getting that for Akechi…” Akira thought back. “I remember him saying something about delicious pancakes. When was that again…?” Akira struggled to grasp it but he knew he’d heard it. It probably wasn’t important.

____________________________________________

The following day the group met up once again in the lobby. No one brought up what Akira had gotten up to the previous day. Instead Makoto brought up looking for gifts for everyone back home. Once they were in the store Akira broke off from everyone else to pick out some things for Futaba, Sojiro, Mona, and Akechi. He had something in mind for each of them at least. He was going to get a new hat for Sojiro, a yellow topical patterned handkerchief for Morgana, the requested coconut cup for Futaba as well as a hula girl mascot just in case the cheap cup wasn’t enough, then the pancake keychain for Akechi that he had talked to Yusuke about. It didn’t really feel like enough so he also got Akechi a bag of coffee that might be fun to experiment with.

“Dude you really thought about what to get people huh?” Ryuji peered over Akira’s shoulder as he paid for the gifts. 

“I spent time yesterday thinking about it.” Akira admitted. “I’m not sure how well Mona or Sojiro’s will go but I’m giving it a try.” Akira shrugged then moved aside after he was done to let Ryuji pay. 

“Hi senpai!” a familiar voice called before Akira spotted Kasumi approaching.

“Aloha.” Akira greeted Kasumi. 

“Haha, that’s a better response huh? Aloha!” Kasumi grinned. “How’s your trip been?” 

“Pretty good.” Akira shrugged before Ryuji and the others joined in the conversation. They’d talked about her before but none of them had a chance to really speak with Kasumi before today. They exchanged pleasantries and spoke about how Kasumi’s training was going. Time was running out though so everyone left them to finish their talk as they finished all paying for their things. 

“Your friends all seem fun.” Kasumi smiled. “It was really good to meet you here. I feel like this is going to be the extra push I need to win at my next meet for sure.” Kasumi looked more determined than before. “I gotta get going. I have some more shopping to do for my family. I’ll see you back in Japan in no time.” 

“Yeah, hang in there Yoshizawa.” Akira waved before he left to join the others as they gathered near the door. “Hey,” He called once he got close enough,” I wanted to apologize. I was kind of a dick the whole trip.” Akira admitted. “Getting sick on the way here just really wore me out.” 

“Don’t worry about it.” Ann gave Akira a pat on the shoulder. “I can’t blame you for just needing to relax.” 

“Yeah, Ann’s right. Sometimes you just gotta chill on the beach and just… do nothing.” Ryuji put his hands in his pockets. 

“Well, we’re out of time. We have to get on the bus. Yusuke, we’ll see you back home soon right?” Makoto smiled at their friend. 

“Of course. As vibrant as Hawaii is, I would miss all of you too much to stay.” Yusuke looked around to each of them. 

“Let’s go home.” Akira then led the group out of the store to get their stuff and get on the bus.

The flight home was a bit easier on him than the flight over. From the place he sat with Kawakami no one else could see him when he took out his inhaler to medicate as the flight took off. His lungs were back to feeling webby and he found he was more short of breath than usual. He needed to head right to Takemi once he got home. He just hoped she didn’t kill him herself once she got a look at his state.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i wrote this chapter with an actual plan in place for the next. there was a reason a reason i made akechi a co-lead and not just because of my shipping bullshit. this will become clear soon and by soon i mean the next chapter i think. i can’t remember off the top of my head. but dramaaaaaaaa. anyway. i keep picking away at my fic to finish it because once i do maybe i will know peace yet again. maybe i’ll play xiv again. maybe i’ll draw. maybe i’ll actually play P4G on PC. 
> 
> i hope y’all liked akira and yusuke’s lil beach date thing. idk why atlus has to be so homophobic that i can’t go on a proper date with the guys in game. “no kylee you can’t date the guys but you can date your teacherrrrrr” “but why…?” “teacherrrrrr” i like kawakami as a hard worker but like…. no. i’m not getting any more into it than that.
> 
> from what i said last week i do think that updating this outside of that weird time frame thing actually helped so i’m going to try to kind of keep doing that because i have very low self esteem and crave at least a _little_ validation. i love also talkin’ to y’all so thank you for any and all love. you’re all perfect and deserve happiness. i’m gunna try to finish this damn fic now so i can just sit here and post it and not worry about a single thing else. ~~like california going back into pandemic lockdown because stupid people won’t wear their damn masks and shit asdgsdfhdfshj~~
> 
> preview:  
>  _“Akira!” Yusuke called as he went to Akira’s side when he stopped to lean against a wall. "Are you alright?”_
> 
> _“I can’t breathe.” Akira wheezed as he held a hand to his chest and his knees buckled. The messy state of his hanahaki was really fucking him up now. He wanted to keep running after Morgana but he couldn't get enough air. He was starting to see black dots. "Where’s Mona?”_
> 
> _“It seems he’s gone.” Akechi’s voice came next as he circled around to look at Akira. "Are you alright? You don’t look so good.” Akechi reached out to touch Akira’s forehead. Suddenly, it was too much. All at once his chest seized up, his head was swam, and his heart rate sky rocketed. The last thing he saw before his vision blacked out was Akechi's worried expression. There was no helping it as his body swayed forward right into Akechi’s arms. His last thought before he lost consciousness was of Morgana and hoping he would come back home._


	18. my cat was yelling at me the whole time i spent writing this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> coming back from hawaii was about as painless as heading to it, meaning akira feels like he’s on death’s door the minute he gets off the flight. he comes to find that while they were gone the phantom thieves got more popular and some of his team wants to dive into the next dungeon while the rest are hesitant. akira’s on the fence due to his garden and it sets of events he never saw coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have like… seven bags of different chips. idk why but i do.

Upon returning home Kawakami got a taxi for Akira to take home so he wouldn’t collapse on the train. Once he walked into the cafe he was met with Futaba, Morgana, Sojiro, and Akechi sitting around seemingly waiting for him.

“Look who’s back.” Sojiro greeted him. “You get a tan?”

“How was the trip?” Akechi asked next. 

“Aloha.” Akira motioned ‘hang loose’ with his hand.

“Uh-oh, he’s been Hawaiianized!” Futaba gasped.

“Looks like you had fun then.” Akechi chuckled then turned to face him.

“While you were off having fun things here have gotten more complicated.” Morgana mumbled. He still seemed upset, which Akira was in no mood to deal with. The flight back had only been marginally kinder on his lungs and everytime he inhaled he could feel something move around in his chest. He would have just ran up to his room to put on his oxygen and lay down but Akechi had to be here. 

Akira thought of his bed before his attention was brought to the TV when it began to advertise Phantom Thief merchandise. When did that start? They were only gone for five days! This was insane.

“Those Phantom Thieves are pretty popular now huh?” Sojiro hummed. “Maybe we should get in on the fad. What should we serve?” 

“Phantom Thief curry of course.” Futaba grinned. 

“Oh yeah, I can just pop a little cry ice on the side, make it a little phantom-y like.” Sojiro thought out loud before looking at Akechi. “I’m joking of course.” 

“I can’t fault you for trying to make some extra money during the craze.” Akechi chuckled. “Even I’ve been subject to the trend.” Akechi pointed to the TV as a recorded show came on with him speaking,” _I can sense some chivalry behind their actions._ ” The TV Akechi said. “ _They are clever to take the silent resentments of the public into account and then work to relieve them. I believe that might very well be the key to their recent popularity. It’s not to say that the group should be considered completely righteous heroes, however I do believe that they should be given some benefit of the doubt concerning the people they’ve changed the hearts of._ ” TV Akechi explained before the hosts began to lead him into talking about other topics. 

“These thieves are really more popular than police or politicians huh? What a weird world we live in.” Sojiro folded his arms. “Well, I’m gunna run to the grocery store. Take care of any customers that turn up okay?” 

With Sojiro gone Futaba stood to pick up her laptop from the counter then sat back down in a booth to open it and show Akira,” I finished the analysis of the data. Did you wanna call a meeting now?” 

“I think perhaps it might be best to wait until tomorrow.” Akechi cut in and Akira could have kissed him right then. “He looks ready to fall asleep standing up.” 

“I am very tired.” Akira nodded. “I understand what jetlag is now. It was a long flight.” 

“Fiiiiine,” Futaba closed her computer again. “First thing in the afternoon tomorrow then. Come right home after school! No playing around.” Futaba warned him. “Go to bed. We’ll handle stuff here! If anyone shows up Goro can give them his princely smile to keep them busy until Sojiro comes back.” 

“Do you need help with your bag?” Akechi turned to face Akira again. 

“Ummmm, I’m going to say yes. Only because I don’t want anything inside breaking and I feel a little weak from exhaustion.” Akira nodded before Akechi got up to help him carry the suitcase up stairs. “I’ll give you your gift tomorrow.” 

“You didn’t need to get me anything.” Akechi shook his head with a soft smile as he set the bag down by the TV. “Is that a good place?” 

“Yeah, thank you. You and Futaba had a good movie experience?” Akira asked as he removed his lei to hang it off the side of his desk. He wondered if he could preserve it somehow. 

“Generally. I wanted to take Mona but when we looked for him he was missing.” Goro folded his arms. “I think he’s mad about something but I’m unsure what it is. When I tried to ask he blew me off. I think you’ll have to be the one to talk to him.”

“Oh good, that’ll be going on the list of things I do tomorrow because I’m not in the mood for that today. Thanks for the warning.” Akira gave a thumbs up. “I’m going to go change and pass out now. Good night.” 

“Sleep well.” Akechi waved then went back downstairs as Morgana came up.

“I don’t think they wanted to mention it but you kinda look worn out.” Morgana jumped up onto the table. “Are you alright? I thought trips like that were supposed to be relaxing.” 

Akira considered answering truthfully but he didn’t know how much his voice carried down to the shop,” I’ll tell you tomorrow.” This list for things to do tomorrow was growing longer and longer by the second. God he was tired. 

Akira moved from Morgana to start getting changed into his pajamas. After he was changed Akira looked to where he normally hid his oxygen machine then chewed his bottom lip. His arms felt noodly and Akechi was still downstairs. Pulling the machine out could cause a fair bit of noise if he couldn’t grip it right and dropped it. Then there was the fact Akira wasn’t going to chance having Akechi come back up to find Akira breathing through nose tubes. He suddenly wished he had a door he could lock or block somehow. With some reluctance Akira decided against the oxygen for now and just crawled into bed.

“I need to talk to you about something.” Morgana said as he jumped into bed with Akira and walked around to look at his face. At least Morgana wanted to talk to him. Akira looked up at him as he pulled his blanket close around him to the point only his face was exposed. There was a pause where Akira waited for Morgana to continue but the not-cat seemed to think better of it. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry.” Akira mumbled then wiggled a hand out to give Morgana a pet. “I promise to listen. I just… I’m really tired.” 

“It’s okay. Get some sleep for now.” Morgana tapped his forehead softly against Akira’s before he also curled up near Akira to sleep.

_________________________________________________

The following morning Akira woke to Morgana being gone. He wanted to look for him before going to school to try talking but it just wasn’t possible. Akira spent a large part of his morning in the bathroom spitting up bloody petals and flowers. 

He had Takemi’s inhaler now, and it was helping, but it also meant that much more was going to come up now. By the time he coughed up his fourth batch Sojiro was at the door. 

“Hey, you okay? Don’t die on me okay?” Sojiro called through the door. 

“Not yet,” Akira promised then washed his face before stepping out,” sorry.” 

“You don’t gotta apologize. You look like shit though. What happened?” Sojiro asked. 

“Turns out I really shouldn’t have gotten on that flight with my garden.” Akira put a hand over his chest. 

“You want to stay home today? I’ll write you an excuse. You should really see Takemi-sensei.” Sojiro frowned as his eyes scanned over Akira’s face. 

“No, I’ll be okay. I’m going to see her later.” Akira dismissed. “I’m sure she’ll tell me off for getting on a plane then just tell me to keep doing what I’ve already been doing.”

“When’d you get your medical licence?” Sojiro jabbed. “I can’t make you stay, just don’t get mad at me if you pass out somewhere.” Sojiro warned him. 

“I’ll be fine.” Akira promised before he finished getting ready then left.

He felt too nauseated for food, and he needed to make sure he made it to school on time without having to rush at all. He was pretty sure that any running would cause him to pass out so he needed to be careful until he was back in top form.

Once he arrived at school new issues were brought to light. A lot of the first years and third years mumbled about something happening with the principal but Akira couldn’t get any actual details on what happened. It wasn’t until an emergency assembly was brought up that the students were finally all told that Kobayakawa had died. 

“Whoa,” Ryuji sounded next to Akira,” what the eff?” 

“I heard it was in front of the police station.” A student from somewhere behind them said. “A suicide or something?” The students continued the gossip about what they thought they knew happened as the vice principal continued with a eulogy. 

“Maybe it was the Phantom Thieves--!” Another girl from somewhere further away suggested and the idea suddenly spread like wildfire. Akira started to feel sick again as he listened to the students near him whisper.

“Yeah he was turning a blind eye to Kamoshida’s shit right?” 

“Maybe the Phantom Thieves’ll punish all the shitty teachers who did.” 

“Serves those shitty adults right.” 

“This is bad.” Akira said to Ryuji. They didn’t need this.

“We didn’t do shit...” Ryuji glared around as students continued to spread the idea that the Phantom Thieves killed the principal.

“We need to meet up.” Ann suggested quietly. “We gotta go over what happened.” 

“No way any of us did this.” Ryuji kicked the ground.

____________________________________________________

As soon as school was over Akira called for a meeting at Leblanc. Akechi was late to arrive due to work but they waited for him before they started. By the time he arrived the sun was already setting turning the sky orange and red. Once everyone was sat down around Akira’s table Makoto started with talking about the principal. 

“Yes, the popular opinion with the media is that he committed suiside because he was ashamed of the coverup he committed in regards to Kamoshida.” Akech scrolled along his phone. “However, the police aren’t content to accept it as that.” 

“What do they think?” Makoto questioned. 

“There’s going to be a search of the principal’s office soon but there’s a strong theory that the Phantom Thieves are responsible.” Akechi looked away from his phone. “The reason this is a popular theory is because he was in front of the police station when his death occurred. Tell me, do you think a man planning his death would try to approach the police?” 

“I… You’re thinking he suffered a mental shutdown?” Akira asked, causing Futaba to stop typing on her laptop to look up at them. 

“Like my mom…” Futaba said with a hint of sadness.

“That’s what I think. If it is the case then that means that the criminal using the Metaverse is getting more aggressive.” Akechi summarized. “It’s possible that Kobayakawa knew something about this villain or at least the people he’s working for. It would stand to reason that they’d want to silence him if he was thinking about going to the police.” 

“Well, that brings us to the point we actually met up for. The data. Futaba found some stuff we might be able to use to find who we’re looking for.” Morgana cut in. “What we found out is that Prosecutor Niijima has been looking into continued cases of people suddenly collapsing. She’s been looking for a common thread for them. Some parts seem like speculation but she’s also cited someone who has benefited from the incidents.” Morgana paused looking around at everyone. “The Okumura Foods corporation, specifically the CEO, Kunikazu Okumura.” 

“That name is familiar…” Ann played with the end of her hair as she thought. 

“That’s the name at the top of the Phan-Site rankings right now.” Akechi explained turning his phone out to show the poll. “Until two days ago the name changed often but suddenly there was a surge in votes and Okumura has been at the top with a significant lead.”

“Yeah but why else is it familiar?” Ryuji frowned. 

“Big Bang Burger,” Yusuke explained,” Okumura Foods is the parent company behind the chain. The chain itself only recently gained popularity.” Yusuke looked over Futaba’s shoulder to look at the data. “It says here that the company benefited from both scandals and resignations of their competitors’ executives.” 

“It’s too suspicious.” Morgana scratched behind his ear. “Just one CEO is profiting from all these seemingly accidental incidents? I believe it’s safe to suspect that he’s intentionally causing these himself.” 

“You think he’s the criminal?” Makoto questioned. 

“If not the criminal then at least bank rolling him.” Akechi shared his thoughts. “After Futaba told me some of the data the other day I tried Okumura’s name in the nav, he has a palace.”

“That settles it doesn’t it?” Ryuji said. “He’s gotta be our next target. He’s got to have some clue on the mental shutdowns!” 

“We don’t know that though.” Yusuke shook his head. “Just because someone has a palace doesn't mean they’re evil. For all we know he’s a puppet too. I’m also worried about how popular we are right now.” 

“I have to agree. The excitement levels don’t feel normal. I wouldn’t mind just letting things mellow out a little bit.” Ann crossed her arms.

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this.” Ryuji shook his head. “You’re going to just go against what the people want?” 

“What? No! But we need to think about it first!” Ann growled.

“I say we let the leaders decide.” Ryuji motioned between Akira and Akechi.

There was a pause as the two leaders looked between one another for a moment in thought,” I think Ann is right. I’d feel better if we let people calm down a little first.” Akira answered. “Something just doesn’t feel right, and jumping in head first could be dangerous. I want to know why Okumura suddenly got so popular on the poll, and I think we still should take a day or two to settle back in after the trip.” 

“For real?” Ryuji took a step back looking a little punch shy. Akira frowned at him, Ryuji knew full well how the flight had really fucked Akira up. Was he really unable to connect those dots himself right now? 

“I take the opposite stance,” Akechi answered which snapped Akira’s attention to him instead,” this momentum is just what we need to put the villain against the wall. He’ll get sloppy and start making mistakes. He already did with the Shujin principal. He tried to clean up a mess but it ended up just making a bigger one. If we press on him we’ll catch him I think.” 

“That’s more like it!” Ryuji perked up again.

“So… we’re at an impasse.” Makoto sighed and silence followed.

“What a great team you guys are.” Morgana stood up to speak. “What’s with all the hesitation? I can’t stand it! So what if you’re a little popular? We’re working in the shadows anyway! I’m surprised at your lack of a spine Akira.” Akira visibly recoiled from Morgana’s words. Where did this come from? “And Ryuji, you always back down once someone disagrees with you, then side with whoever shares your ideas? Pathetic. You could stand to grow a spine too!” 

“What did you say you, useless, _mangy_ **cat**?” Ruyiji snapped.

“Ryuji!” Akira snapped at him but it was drowned out by Morgana’s shout.

“All you care about is using the Phantom Thieves name to pick up a date anyway! You’re so conceited about it that it makes me sick!” Morgana shouted back.

“Mona! Hey, this is getting out of hand.” Akira stepped forward. He needed to defuse the situation before it got too heated. Once this meeting was over he really needed to sit down to talk with Morgana. “Let’s just take a minute--”

“Don’t you start!” Morgana directed his attention at Akira now, making Akira flinch again. “If you had any kind of a spine to work with you wouldn’t be in the situation you are in now!” It was hard for Akira to know if he was yelling about the Thieves being undecided or his hanahaki. Both were valid but that didn’t stop Akira from feeling like Morgana was pushing on just the right buttons to make him feel like trash.

“Morgana!” Yusuke warned. Yusuke seemed to get it and jumped to Akira’s defense now.”You’re taking it too far--”

“I might not be in my human form but at least I can stand up for what I believe in!” Morgana cut Yusuke off. “And I don’t back down because I'm a little scared of uncertainty!” Morgana eyed Akira again and he understood it was indeed about his hanahaki. “You all can argue about what you’re going to do on your own. I’ll just take down Okumura by myself.” Morgana jumped down from the table then rushed downstairs as he yelled. “I don’t need you! I’ll show you exactly how invaluable I am!”

“Mona wait!” Akira rushed around the table then down the stairs to follow him. The sound of a bell signaled a customer coming inside. Sojiro shouted at Akira when he pushed past the customer but he didn’t stop to apologize.

Morgana had used the customer coming in to slip outside and run up the road toward Takemi’s clinic. Akira tore past people coming home from work as he tried to keep up with Morgana, but before he even made it to the first corner he was out of breath. His head was pounding as his body tried to keep up with the oxygen it needed for even a short burst of running. “Shit.” Akira gasped, forcing himself to continue to jog after where he’d seen Morgana turn at the movie theater.

He only made it a few more feet once he rounded the corner before a wave of nausea and dizziness slammed into him like nothing he’d felt before. He looked up to see Morgana vanish around another corner but there was no way for Akira to catch him now. He was already struggling to get any air, something had to have come loose because he could actually _feel_ it bump around in his lungs.

“Akira!” Yusuke called as he ran to Akira’s side when he spotted Akira leaning against the wall nearest to Takemi’s clinic. "Are you alright?” Someone else ran past the two of them but Akira couldn’t focus enough to actually figure out who it was.

“I can’t breathe.” Akira wheezed as he held a hand to his chest and his knees buckled. The only thing keeping him standing was the wall and Yusuke’s hand on his chest to keep him standing. The messy state of his hanahaki was really fucking him up now. He couldn't get enough air, and he was starting to see black dots. "Where’s Mona?” 

“He’s gone.” Akechi’s voice came closer from in front of him. Akira could only guess he was the one who’d run past to try still chasing Morgana. "Are you alright? You don’t look so good.” Akechi was in his personal bubble as he reached out to touch Akira’s forehead. 

Suddenly, it was too much and it set off a chain reaction. All at once his chest seized up, his head swam, and his heart rate skyrocketed. The last thing he saw before his vision blacked out was Akechi's worried expression turning into alarm. There was no helping it as his body swayed forward right into Akechi’s arms. His last thought before he lost consciousness was of Morgana and hoping he would come back home.

________________________________________________

The next time Akira woke up he had no sense of how much time had passed. The only thing he was aware of was the fact he was in his room with his oxygen on, and it was dark. He let out a quiet groan as he tried to sit up but a firm hand kept him down,” Stay down.” Akechi’s voice caught Akira like a slap to the face. He had his oxygen on. What did Akechi think? Did he figure it out? This was bad.

“What happened? Where’s Mona?” Akira tried to sit up again and keep the topic away from his oxygen, but Akechi forced him down once more with both hands. Akira needed to distract from the situation before he choked right here.

“Stop.” Akechi said more firmly as he pressed Akira down. “You passed out in the street two days ago. Morgana ran off. We don't know where he is. Your doctor came out of her clinic when she heard shouting. It was lucky she was there.” Akechi explained, removing his hands from Akira once he was sure he wasn’t going to try getting up again. “We’ve been taking turns keeping an eye on you, as per your doctor’s orders.”

“Two days?” Akira questioned. How had he been that bad off? Did Takemi keep him under or was he actually going to end up dead soon? 

“Yes. We think Morgana is trying to take on Okumura by himself.” Akechi explained closing his book. “There’s been incidents at the company HQ. We’re going to go look tomorrow. You, however, need to rest.” 

“W-what did Takemi say was wrong with me?” Akira questioned, scared Akechi had figured him out. 

“She said you contracted a severe upper respiratory infection. She thought it best to have you rest as much as possible. She said the medication she put in you was strong and would clear it, but you’d be put into a short medically induced coma. So that’s where you two days went.” Akechi sat back to look at Akira as he explained. It actually was a huge relief to know. Akira didn’t know what kind of panic attack he would have wound himself into if Akechi hadn’t told him. “She said you could have gotten it before you left, and the flight aggravated it to the point it was at.” Akira let out a sigh and made a mental note to thank Takemi later.

“I need to help find Mona.” Akira said looking up at Akechi

“You need to rest.” Akechi shook his head. “There’s nothing you can do as you are. You’re just a liability. Right now you have to stay put and let your medicine work.” 

“Well…” Akira wanted to argue but his body decided he was going to yawn now. He tired again suddenly,” at least we’ve got you to lead when I can’t.” Akira forced an awkward smile. He didn’t like this, he was worried about Morgana. If he didn’t look would Morgana think he didn’t care? He couldn’t just let Akechi look, he didn’t know everything.

“That you do.” Akechi comforted Akira. “Now that you know what’s going on and you’re awake I’m going to head home. You get some sleep, okay? We’ll come by tomorrow night to let you know how things go.” 

“You’re just going right in? No stop by the hideout?” 

“We’ve already wasted enough time.” Akechi said firmly, making Akira flinch. “I don’t mean you’re a waste of time. We tried to figure out keywords yesterday but we couldn’t get it. Futaba is going to try something that might work out to get the keywords.”

“Okay…” 

“I know you and Mona are close.” Akechi stated. “I’ll do my best to bring him home to you.”

“Please. I have things I need to talk to him about.” 

“Leave it to me. Sleep well, Kurusu.”

________________________________________________

Akira slept through the following day and well into the evening when everyone arrived back at Leblanc. Futaba sat herself at the foot of his bed as everyone else pulled out chairs to get comfortable, each of them looking exhausted and tired. 

“Did you find Mona?” Akira asked, not bothering to remove his oxygen. It was helping his garden situation a lot and he had a great excuse for it right now, even if Akechi seeing him like this set his anxiety on high alert.

“You look pretty tired still.” Futaba commented, possibly trying to dodge Akira’s question.

“You too.” Akira countered.

“Well, we did find Morgana but…” Yusuke trailed off,” he was with a girl? He claimed she was a persona user like us. She had on a black mask.” 

“Is it the person we’re looking for?” Akira sat up a bit straighter. 

“No. She’s new.” Akechi shook his head. “I think Morgana found her shortly after leaving us.” 

“There were so many shadows.” Ryujiu whined hanging over the back of the chair he was seated on. “All because little Miss Beauty Thief went and opened that door.” 

“Beauty Thief?” Akira asked. 

“The girl with Morgana,” Ann explained,” her codename I guess. My question is, how did that girl get the door open? Futaba you said it would have to be someone related to Okumura?” 

“Yeah, so that girl might be someone close to Okumura.” Futaba pulled her knees to her chest. “I’m just trying to figure out why Mona would be with someone like that. Did he betray us?”

“No way he’d do that.” Akira frowned. 

“You say that but you weren’t there dude.” Ryuji grimmiced. “He had her pointing at us telling us stuff like ‘learn to take a hint’ or ‘you’re vulgar’ or ‘for someone so smart you’re missing the biggest clue’ and stuff.” As Ryuji spoke he motioned from Yusuke, to himself, to Akechi. “Shit was pissing me off.” 

“I think our best bet is to find out who the Beauty Thief is.” Akechi spoke up. “If she’s related to Okumura there’s only one option, his daughter, Haru Okumura.” 

“Ah! That’s why her face is so familiar.” Makoto gasped. “She’s a third year at our school!” 

“I think tomorrow you should approach her and talk to her about what’s going on.” Akechi said then looked at Akira. He paused as he looked him over then asked,” Kurusu, how are you feeling?” 

“Better.” Akira answered, meeting Akechi’s gaze. “I’ll see Takemi to get cleared to do stuff again tomorrow. I just needed a rest.” 

“Alright, Makoto-chan, tomorrow please look for Haru Okumura and talk to her. We’ll make plans based on what intel we can gather from her.” Akechi directed. “I hope we can resolve this without issue without too much more trouble.”

“Yeah,” Akira nodded. He missed Morgana. 

The meeting came to a close then with everyone leaving until it was just Akechi left. Did he really have to do this now? He was just standing there at the top of the stairs with his arms crossed and a pissed off look on his face.

“I have to ask you something and I need you to be honest with me, Kurusu.” Akechi said, staring right at him. Whatever it was he had to say, it was probably not going to be something he wanted to hear. 

“You really just have a lung infection?” Akechi questioned. 

“What else would it be?” Akira countered. “Wait, you think it’s hanahaki?” 

“That’s one option.” Akechi shifted his weight from one leg to another and he looked worried. Maybe Takemi was right all along and Akechi really did care. On the other hand Akira didn’t want this right now. 

“Listen, I know you’re terrified of hanahaki but I don’t have it.” Akira lied. He wanted to defuse the tension in the air and he needed to do it effectively. The best thing he could think to do was probably the worst thing. “Even if I did have it you think it’d be for you?”

Akechi instantly turned ridgid at Akira’s words and his expression quickly shifted to angry. It wasn’t a look Akechi wore often but Akira had seen it, or rather he’d seen a version of it. This was different than any other time, this look of rage looked so absolute Akira actually felt a bit like Akechi might hit him. Maybe he pushed too hard, Akechi could kill him right now if he used the right words.

“ _Forgive me for being concerned.”_ Akechi hissed, his hands curling into fists as he dropped them to his side. “I can see it was a waste of my time.” Without another word Akechi spun around and left. 

Akira let out a sigh then buried his hands into his hair as he doubled over and began to cough. He probably sealed his fate with this but hanahaki was at the back of his mind right now. He was worried about Morgana and the girl he’d apparently allied himself with. Maybe he left because he knew Akira was dead soon and he needed someone who was going to stick around? 

The thought of being useless to everyone spurred on more coughs until Akira fell forward to the floor. He tried to brace himself but his arms were too weak to keep him up. Akira continued to cough until not one, but two large flowers pushed their way out of his lungs. 

Akira laid on the ground staring at the flowers after he’d pushed them away from his face. They shined bloody and bright red under the light of his lamp and he wondered if Sojiro had heard him. It was likely he hadn’t or he had just stepped out or something. Whatever the case Akira couldn’t muster the energy to get off of the floor before he eventually passed out where he fell.

________________________________________________

The following morning Akira woke up a bit past ten still on the floor. He felt sore all over as he pushed himself off of the floor to look at the mess he’d made. The blood had dried out now leaving bloodstains in the wood. Akira wasn’t sure he was going to be able to clean that up effectively. Maybe he should buy a rug or put the meeting table over the spot to try hiding it? He would figure it out later. Right now he needed to go to Takemi’s clinic. She probably wanted to see him and he wanted to know what he could do to try and fix the mess his garden had turned into.

He dressed then made his way downstairs to pause when Sojiro looked up at him. “Hey, whoa. Should you be out of bed?” Sojiro walked around the counter to force Akira to look at him. “You’ve got blood on your face.” 

Akira raised an eyebrow before he rubbed over his face until he felt something flake off his cheek. When he looked at his hand small bits of dried blood laid his palm. He hadn’t even felt it at all. “I’m fine.” Akira lied, brushing Sojiro off to turn to the bathroom quickly. Once Akira locked the door he looked into the mirror to spot that his whole right side of his cheek was covered in blood. “Shit.” Akira muttered before he turned on the sink then washed the blood off. Once it was clean Akira noticed that he was very pale. He looked much sicker than he realized. It was no wonder Akehci had been nosy last night. If Akira had realized he looked like this… no. It wouldn’t have changed how he spoke to Akechi.

“I’m going to Takemi’s.” Akira said as he came out of the bathroom. He didn’t stop when Sojiro called for him, instead he made his way over to Takemi’s clinic without stopping. 

Once he walked inside, Takemi looked up at him with annoyance written all over her face at first before it gave away to worry. “You don’t look well…” Takemi noted then stood. “Let’s talk in the exam room.” She motioned to be followed then went to open the door to let Akira into the back. 

Akira sat on the bed as soon as he entered the room. His body was already against him walking around and wanted to rest. He was still pretty messed up. “You’re lucky I thought up reasons for you to black out with breathing problems. You should have come to me before you went on that flight. Do you have any idea how much damage that did?” 

“A lot?” Akira guessed. It was the most obvious answer from how his body was reacting now.

“Yes.” Takemi answered by snapping up x-rays of his chest. When had those been taken? When he was passed out? Someone had to have held him up or something. Frankly Akira was impressed he hadn’t been taken to the hospital instead. Akira shook these thoughts from his head then looked at the x-ray. “As you can see the roots are taking up even more of your lungs now, they expanded looking for air. The cabin pressure of the plane lowered your oxygen levels and in turn made your hanahaki seek out more CO2. In the sudden growth flowers opened up and more began to grow.” 

“Am I dying even sooner now?” Akira asked. He felt like he was.

“Frankly, I don’t know. It could lessen since there’s enough oxygen now, or it could stay the same. I don’t think it’ll get worse unless something happens with that Akechi boy.” Takemi admitted. “Honestly, every time I try to pin a timeline on this it gets worse. It’s possible that you could need to be hospitalized by early November, or you could die by the end of October. It’s up in the air.” Takemi looked troubled. “Your body can’t handle a lot of physical strain on it right now. Even walking around is going to be very hard on you. All I can do is recommend what I think is right. It’s up to you to decide what you’re going to do.” Takemi looked at Akira now.

“I can give you a stronger version of what you’ve already been taking, but it’ll cause more issues. There’s no way it’ll be enough to enable you to run at all right now. Your body needs time to recover from the expansion, and even if it does you’ll be working at a much lower capacity. I already said I can’t really stop you, but I really want you to take a few weeks to relax. You can’t be physical. Running around will only agitate your garden right now and it could end up killing you before you’re ready.” 

“There’s nothing you can give me to recover?” Akira was hoping for something. 

“There’s nothing I can do, but there's something _you_ can do.” Takemi stepped forward to tap on his chest. “I saw how that boy reacted to you collapsing. He was panicking and from the look on his face I think he’d accept you. Don’t curl up and die somewhere. Tell him.”

“I can’t do that.” Akira chewed his bottom lip. “I kind of told him to fuck off last night when he tried to make me admit it might be what it is.”

“Idiot...” Takemi touched her hand to her forehead as she closed her eyes and sighed,” I understand why you’re so hesitant on this but it’s _killing you_...” Takemi lowered her hand to his shoulder. “You can’t keep pushing him away.” Akira looked away from Takemi at this. He didn’t want to argue with her. He just kept his jaw tight and ignored her until she took her hand off of him.

“Fine. Let me get the new medication. You can go back to school tomorrow but you’re taking a note with you to remove you from gym. You may not be able to quit the Phantom Thieves but I can pull you out of gym class.” Takemi turned away from him to walk out of the room. 

“Okay.” Akira nodded before he sat back and waited for Takemi’s return. He thought over his next situation. This was bad. He might end up dead in the next month because he’d been careless. Now he had to worry about his impending doom **and** someone else; Morgana. Whatever was happening with him was Akira’s fault for not having a spine to actually speak up. Ryuji had been horrible and Akira delegated the “talk” to Akechi instead. 

Akira could have laughed about how he’d been worried about ruining the trip by straining his relationship with Ryuji. His hanahaki had done the job for him instead. It probably would have been better to just pull the bandaid off himself. Notes for next time, if he lived to see that.

Akira let out a groan as he dragged his hand through his hair. He missed Morgana a lot. He just wanted his friend back and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to try getting him back. Takemi was right that she couldn’t stop him from Phantom Thieves stuff. No one was going to. He was going to force himself to do this because he was going to at least let Morgana know he cared. 

_____________________________________________________

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _12:06pm: **glasses kink** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**glasses kink** : got the OK from the doc to return to business as usual tomorrow.  
**glasses kink** : get any info on haru okumura?  
**The Hot Class Prez** : I talked with her today.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : She was rather forward with being in the palace which threw me off a little but she was honest with me about why she became a Phantom Thief.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : She said she was suspicious with how much her father had grown the company lately and knew things were wrong. So she became a thief to try and make up for what he’s done.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : I thought there might be a way we could work together but when I asked she said she refused to cooperate with people who didn’t know what they want to do.  
**twink bara:** the fuck  
**The Hot Class Prez** : She sees what we’re doing as causing unnecessary public panic and said that though we claim to help the weak, we have been doing nothing to help our own teammate.  
**sensual keystroke** : [ •́ ‸ •̀ ]  
**The Hot Class Prez** : I think she hit a pretty significant point. We don’t know what we want to do.  
**sensual strawberries:** yeah…  
**PrinceType** : I think right now we need to focus on talking to Morgana.  
**PrinceType** : There are things we can’t do without him after all.  
**glasses kink** : Yeah. Personally I want my friend back home.  
**glasses kink:** But before that we need to figure out what we’re going to be doing.  
**glasses kink:** After thinking about it I understand that people are worried about all the popularity we’ve been getting, but we need to ignore that stuff.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist:** Akira?  
**glasses kink:** I was being resistant because I was worried about us being exposed.  
**glasses kink** : We need to worry about the criminal and finding Morgana’s memories.  
**glasses kink:** Our popularity isn’t important. We have to refocus on why we became the Phantom Thieves in the first place.  
**PrinceType** : I see your point.  
**PrinceType** : I have to admit, I was getting swept up in the moment as well.  
**PrinceType** : Let’s refocus.  
**sensual strawberries** : i want to apologize to morgana properly.  
**sensual keystroke** : well, i think i know where he is.  
**sensual keystroke:** there’s a lot of comments on the phan-site thanking us for resolving requests and someone saying they’re getting them done. we clearly haven’t been doing them since we can’t get around without mona.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist:** Mona and Beauty Thief are fulfilling requests.  
**glasses kink** : let’s go to mementos tomorrow to try and find them.  
**PrinceType** : You’re sure you’re alright?  
**glasses kink** : i’m perfect.  
**PrinceType** : Okay then.  
**PrinceType** :We’ll meet after school tomorrow and head to Mementos.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The following day Akira went to school as normal, but it took him much longer. He was glad he left with a lot of extra time. The cramped train ride left him with labored breathing and completely unable to take the stairs. He silently thanked whoever intended escalators. 

“Yo, dude.” Ryuji’s voice called to Akira as he walked toward the school. Akira paused to turn back and wait for Ryuji to jog up to him. “You look kinda pale. You sure you’re okay?” 

“I’m okay enough.” Akira shrugged. “It’s not like I can do anything about it.” 

“Your hanahaki is going wild isn’t it?” Ryuji frowned. “Dude, just tell Akechi. He was practically freaking out when you collapsed. He wanted to call an ambulance when your doctor insisted that she could give you all the care you’d need.”

“I’m not fucking telling Akechi.” Akira glared. “And you better not put your nose into it either. You already caused enough problems.” 

“What do you mean?” Ryuji raised an eyebrow. 

“You know damn well what I mean. Akechi talked to you about shit talking Mona before we went on the trip but you kept fucking doing it.” Akira explained. He was annoyed he even had to. Honestly he wanted to scream at him but they were in front of the school now and he wasn’t about to air his dirty laundry here. “Next time we see Mona show a little empathy.” 

Ryuji opened his mouth like he was going to argue back but seemed to think better of it. Maybe it was because Akira was still having trouble breathing from the combined effort of walking and talking. There was a good chance that Akira wasn’t going to be able to really make it in Mementos at his rate.

“Do you need me to help you up the stairs?” Ryuji asked after a few seconds. 

“I think so. Just… don’t let Kawakami or the girls see. They’ll pitch a fit.” Akira nodded before Ryuji pulled Akira’s arm around his shoulders and helped him up into the building then to the second floor. “I’m good here. See you later.” Akira withdrew from Ryuji. 

Ryuji stood to stare at Akira for a minute before he turned and went to his class. Akira made his way over to the faculty office to call for Kawakami. He passed Takemi’s note to her without saying anything. She read the note, looked at Akira’s face, then said,” I’ll make sure your medical reason is kept under wraps. This won’t turn out like your criminal record.”

“Thanks.” Akira mumbled.

“If you need a nap in the middle of homeroom feel free to take it. You look like you need the rest. Same about the bathroom.” Kawakami touched his shoulder. “Just hang in there, okay?” 

“Thanks sensei.” Akira bowed to her then went to his class to sit. He pulled his blazer off before putting it over his head to rest it on his desk. He was too tired to be able to actually do Mementos like he was supposed to his afternoon.

The only way he was going to even have a shot at it was probably to take more of Takemi’s medication than he was supposed to. Akira thought about doubling down on it when he felt someone tap him on the back of the head. He lifted his coat up enough to look at Ann. “Morning.” Akira greeted her. 

“Should you have stayed home?” Ann questioned. 

“I’m fine.” Akira lied. 

“You don’t look it.” Ann chewed her bottom lip. “If you need it I can take you home.” 

“I’m not going home. I’m going to look for Morgana.” Akira said then dragged his bag up to his desk. He was going to double down. He upcapped his medication before Ann put a hand over his. 

“I’m worried about him too but you look like you’re actually going to keel over. Let me take you home, Akira.” Ann requested. Akira met her eyes for a minute then shook his head. “I’m fine.” He lied again then freed his hands from her to take Takemi’s medication. “I just need to let this work.” Akira said, capping the bottle. “I’ll be ready for Mementos.”

______________________________________________________________

After school was over the party met up before heading into Mementos. Akira got worried looks from everyone save Akechi. They could all tell he wasn’t doing well and probably wanted to tell him he needed to go home and rest but Akira didn’t give them the opportunity to do that. He dragged them into Mementos without looking up from his phone.

Without much choice the party settled in to wait. Minutes turned to hours as they waited for Haru and Morgana to appear while shooting worried looks to Akira. The medication was giving Akira enough energy and lung capacity for the time being. He could handle a talk. 

Ryuji was starting to complain loudly about how long it was taking when the duo finally appeared. Morgana’s first response was looking around at everyone before shouting,” You guys are seriously slacking off! What are you doing sitting around here huh?”

“Do you have business with us?” Haru questioned. 

“We do in fact.” Akechi pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning against across from Akira. “We wanted to talk about a few things.” 

“We’re not interested in talking to you.” Morgana turned his nose up at the party. 

“Now hold on--” Akira stepped forward. 

“Leaving comments on fulfilled requests is pretty reckless. If you get caught you can put all of us in danger.” Makoto stood from her place next to Futaba. Maybe there had been more comments and that’s what prompted her to take over from Akira. 

“That’s not what I intended. I’m sorry!” Haru seened to realize she had made a pretty rash mistake. 

“I covered your IP up for now, but I really don’t recommend you keep leaving more.” Futaba explained closing her laptop.

“I see… thank you.” Haru bowed deeply. 

“Why are you thanking them?” Morgana sounded annoyed. 

“They told us for our sake. We _should_ be thanking them!” Haru explained. 

“That’s not why we’re here.” Akira threw his hands up. “Mona please, I’m sorry about everything.” 

“I’m…. the one you’re here for?” Morgana questioned cautiously, but he also seemed to be trying to gauge Akira’s health. Did he look that bad even under his mask? “You guys need me after all?” 

“You’re an important part of the team and you’re my friend.” Akira explained moving his mask up to show his honest expression. “I’m sorry.”

“Really?” Ryuji questioned in the most condescending tone he could muster as he stood up. He seemed to be disregarding what Akira had told him this morning and in an instant Akira wanted to throw him against the wall to shut him up.

“Here we go.” Akechi sighed. 

“Ryuji! Ignore him, Mona!” Ann cut in. “We’re really sorry about what we said. We didn’t take your feelings into consideration at all. Can you forgive us?” 

“Ann...” Morgana sounded as if he was starting to accept their words. 

“Ryuji, _apologize_.” Akira nudged him with an elbow. 

“Ow! Hey!” Ryuji snapped before he sighed in annoyance. “It was my bad too…” He didn’t even look at Morgana as he apologized and it was a poor one at best. “I mean, I don’t mind if you’re not human or if you’re useless!” 

“You really have no tact.” Akechi put his hand over his eyes.

“What a fucking douche…” Futaba shook her head.

“Ann and Akira's setups are completely ruined.” Yusuke sighed.

“Are you serious?” Akira hissed at Ryuji before Morgana’s upset spiked. 

“So, I’m just some useless cat huh?!” Morgana snapped. “You’re so damn full of yourselves but without me you can’t even navigate Mementos! If you’re so sure you’re _**so**_ great then try and catch me!” Morgana then jumped off to turn into his car form and demanded Haru get into the car to drive them away. 

“Not again…” Akira grimaced watching the car speed off. He wasn’t sure he was going to be able to handle the chase but he wasn’t going to lose Mona again. First he needed to take care of something though. Suddenly, Akira whipped around at Ryuji to point right between his eyes making him back up until he was against the wall as Akira seethed. “Can you stop and think for a fucking minute how Mona actually feels?! I told you this morning to have some empathy but I can see it’s not going through your thick fucking skull!” 

“Bro--” 

“Don’t fucking ‘bro’ me _Ryuji_!” Akira snapped to shut him up. “You’ve been shit talking Morgana since day one and I’m frankly sick of it. You have zero compassion for others and it makes me sick! Maybe think a little more about how it feels to think you’re an outcast among the people you call friends! Oh wait, you know **exactly** what that’s like don’t you? I’d have thought you’d have learned something from it.” Akira hissed the last part then broke from the group after that to follow Morgana and Haru on foot with Yusuke hot on his heels.

“I don’t think I’ve seen him yell before.” Akechi commented, sounding rather interested. “But he has a point and I even told you myself, be a bit more considerate.” Akechi then began to follow the others until Ryuji was the last to run.

Before they even really started to chase them Akira was having trouble breathing. When they did get close to Morgana he’d whip around in another direction. Either Haru was a good driver or Morgana had learned to self drive. One time Morgana nearly ran Akira over when he had almost reached the door. At the rate this was going Akira was going to pass out again. Shit.

“You’re not up for this really are you?” Akechi questioned after another failed attempt to catch Morgana. Akechi placed a hand on his shoulder to make him stop for a minute. Why was he still trying to be nice? He hadn’t already forgiven Akira for last night right? Akechi wasn’t that stupid, or maybe that was the point. He wasn’t stupid. Akira had clearly been prickly because he was trying to avoid being pitied. Damn Akechi. 

“I’m fine.” Akira insisted as he shrugged off Akechi’s hand then rushed off again. He couldn’t break down again now. There was no place to hide his hanahaki here.

They were nearing the intersection once more when a crash was heard ahead of them. “MONA!!” Akira screamed, pushing himself to run a bit harder to spot that Morgana had crashed. “Are you okay?!” Akira questioned as Morgana popped back into a cat. 

“I’m fine!” Morgana snapped. He looked ready to yell some more but paused when he noticed Akira’s breathing. “W-what about you?” 

“I’m sure he’d be better if we weren’t chasing you around all over the friggin place!” Ryuji shouted,” You know he was out of commission for like two days trying to follow you when you took off?! His lungs ain’t doing so hot!” 

“I--” Morgana looked worried. 

“Shut. Up. _Ryuji_.” Akira pointedly said between breaths. He swore to god if Ryuji kept running his mouth he was going to turn Arsene on him. “I’m not going to guilt him into coming back to us. Mona, I’m sorry. You’re right about me. I should have been a better leader. I should have been more forward…” 

Morgana looked troubled at this. Ryuji had already gotten enough out to make Morgana feel guilty but Akira wanted Morgana to come back on his own. He didn’t like gaslighting or manipulation. Akira wanted to tell Morgana to decide on his own, that he’d be welcome home no matter what, but as Akira opened his mouth he started to cough. It wasn’t hanahaki at least, he could feel that much, it was too dry for that. Everyone’s attention was on Akira as he doubled over so when all eyes were on him Morgana turned back into a car to drive away again.

“Damn it.” Akechi hissed then looked back at Akira. “I think that’s enough tonight. You’re going to end up in the hospital if we keep this up.” 

“I’m fine.” Akira cleared his throat after a few more coughs. He just needed water. Maybe.

“At this rate we’re never going to get Mona to come back.” Futaba looked troubled. “This is your fault Ryuji.” 

“Why is it my fault?!” Ryuji tried to defend himself however everyone gave him the same cold look and he deflated. “Because I’m an insensitive dickhead.” Ryuji answered. At least something seemed to be getting through his head now.

“There you go.” Ann beamed. “Let’s head out.” 

As they walked back out of Mementos Akechi walked at the back with Akira who was trailing behind pretty badly. He still had little coughs here and there but none of it felt like it was coming from his chest. It was just a dry throat. Akira had to thank the stars for small miracles. 

Yusuke had been the one to walk with Akira until he noticed Akechi approaching so he sped up to walk with Makoto instead. Once they were more or less alone Akechi spoke,” Your breathing is still labored. Are you sure you’re clear to be out and about again?” 

“Well, I did get a pass to not participate in gym…” Akira cleared his throat. Akechi let out a heavy sigh at this. “I’m sorry I was a dick last night. I’m just… I feel responsible for Morgana. He’s been with me from the start and I let him down pretty badly here.I know I shouldn’t have been running around but I wanted to make sure Moragana knew I still cared. I was worried he might think I didn’t since I didn’t look for him for the days I was out.”

“I know why you’re so defensive. After I left I realized that I would be the same if I were in your position. You just need to be more careful in regard to yourself, you know?” Akechi shook his head. “Morgana will understand in time. Right now you need to recover fully before you go rushing off trying to fight shadows or whatever we end up doing.” 

“I know but…” Akira chewed his bottom lip,” I just wanted him to come home.” 

“I know.” Akechi put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll work it out. Let me take some of the burden. That’s why I’m here isn’t it?” 

“Man… good looks and a nice personality? How am I supposed to deal with you?” Akira laughed bitterly. 

“By trusting me. Just be grateful I can see past your poor attempts at isolating yourself.” Akechi took his hand off Akira.

After they left the Metaverse the group talked about getting dinner together at the diner before heading home. They needed a plan and honestly Akira was pretty sure he was going to have to just yield all leadership to Akechi. He really wasn’t in any condition to manage the Phantom Thieves like this.

As they made their way to the diner Akira heard something that sounded like Morgana in the distance,” Mona?” He questioned loudly enough for the others to listen closely. He strained his ears to listen over the hustle and bustle of Shibuya before another familiar voice came.

“Please let go, you’re hurting me!” Haru shouted next and Akira was on high alert. He ran toward the point he could make it out from, his lungs starting to protest once again. Akira ignored them in favor of rounding the corner to find some douche in a white suit trying to force Haru to follow him, and beside them Morgana laid curled up on the floor. He looked hurt.

“HEY!” Akira snapped seeing red. He ran toward the man to force him off of Haru and against the wall. His lungs were yelling at him for the physical exertion but Akira didn’t care, he was pissed. “What did you do to my friend?!” 

“Mona!” Futaba rushed to Morgana while Akechi and Yusuke pulled Akira off of the man in the suit when Akira raised a fist to hit him.

“Don’t,” Akechi warned him, pulling the hand back,” you know what’ll happen if you get another assault charge!”

“Another?” The man questioned, smoothing his suit out once Akira was off of him. “I see. So you’re the punks my fiancee has been spending her time with. So should I sue you for touching me?” 

“I think we can let things pass don’t you,” Akechi released Akira once he was sure Yusuke had a good hold on him,” Sugimura Kitase-san? It would be troubling to have to file an attempted rape charge against you if you choose to press your own charges.”

“You can’t do that. She’s my fiancee. She’s _mine._ ” The man, Sugimura, growled looking at Akechi.

“I assure you I am perfectly able to do so. Fiancee or not, it does not give you the right to do what you want to her. Her body doesn’t _belong_ to you. I saw you mistreating Okumura-san with my own eyes and even a bought cop would know better than to deny the testimony of a detective. Specifically **me**.” Akechi looked Sugimura up and down as if he were daring him to say anything more.

Sugimura paled then looked from Akechi to Haru,” I’ll be letting your father know about this, and trust that I won’t forget your faces.” 

“Unless you want me to rearrange yours you better leave!” Akira shouted at the man who stiffened at the threat then left quickly. 

“Okumura-san are you okay?” Ann asked.

“Get off!” Akira shoved Yusuke off of him to move to Morgana. He felt like he might black out again if he kept this up but Morgana was hurt. “Mona, are you alright?” 

“This is nothing.” Morgana dismissed his injuries as he stood up. “Haru, are you hurt?” 

“N-no.” Haru rubbed her wrist.

“Sugimura Kitase,” Akechi repeated the name as he watched the man who had left,” he’s the son of a rather prominent politician isn’t he?”

“Yes.” Haru nodded. 

“He seems like an abusive asshole.” Ryuji kicked the ground. “Shouldn’t you tell your parents about him?” 

“It wouldn’t do any good…” Haru spoke with a much quieter voice than she had used before,” all I would be told to do is go to him and beg forgiveness. Even if I have to grovel on the ground for it.” The more Haru spoke the more she cried and the more Akira understood suddenly. She was in an arranged marriage she couldn’t get out of and it was her father pushing her to do it.

“I’m sorry about everything earlier.” Morgana looked up to Akira. “Please, let Haru rest for a while, somewhere safe.” 

“Of course. Let’s go to Leblanc.” Akira looked back at everyone else who agreed. Akira then picked up Morgana who only protested a little before curling up in Akira’s arms as he realized that any effort from Akira right now was probably going to push him over the edge. 

After arriving back at Leblanc Sojiro didn’t question why they had picked up yet another person, nor about what was wrong with Akira or Morgana. He did look worried about Akira as he nearly stumbled heading up the steps to his room but he kept it to himself. All at once Akira remembered that he never properly covered up the blood. He didn’t know what he was going to do about it now, it was too late to turn people back. 

Once they were up in the attic Akira realized that a small circular red rug had been placed on the floor over the blood stain. “That… wasn’t there when I left this morning…?” Akira looked at it. 

“Maybe Boss thought the room needed more color.” Ryuji offered. 

Akira hummed not really sure but he accepted it. He wasn’t going to complain. He offered Haru a blanket then put Mona on the table so they could talk while Haru rested. Once she was settled Akira retreated to sit on his bed to put on his oxygen. He needed it. Even if everyone was in the room with him to see it. Putting the tube around his neck with Akechi watching him made him feel anxious, but there was no helping it.

Morgana watched him with a worried expression before he spoke,” I want to say something… but it’s hard for me to say it.” Morgana’s tail swished around in annoyance,” I… I can’t have you guys risk your lives anymore for someone as useless as me.” Morgana’s ears went low and he guiltily looked right to Akira. “To be honest, I won’t know if I ever was human, nor if I’ll ever turn into one. It can’t be called a fair deal to keep me around. I think it would be best if we split up after all.” Morgana looked sadly at the table. 

“Who said we’re just acting for your sake?” Yusuke spoke first after a long bout of silence,” I’m doing this to expand my own horizons.” 

Yusuke seemed to think that would help ease the tension in the air but Morgana just shook his head,” No need to tiptoe around the situation. We’re splitting up.” 

Akira looked from Morgana to each person in the room, everyone looked troubled trying to find the words to say to Morgana to make him want to stay. “You should stop lying.” Haru sat back up to pick up Morgana and hold him in her lap. “When we met, you told me you were a Phantom Thief and you were going to get stronger so the others would have to acknowledge you. You love everyone here. You don’t want to leave.” Morgana tried to deny what Haru was saying as he wiggled out of her lap and back to the table. “I was lying to myself too. I said I was trying to change my father’s heart because he was doing something horrible, but it was nothing but a superficial reason. The reason I really want to do it is because I don’t want to marry that man you all met.” 

“I don’t blame you.” Ann agreed. 

“It didn’t feel right to fight back, my father is an adult. He knew what was best for me so he couldn’t be wrong, but I was a fool. I thought if I stayed quiet and played the good obedient wife then that was enough. I won’t let that hold me back anymore. I refuse to just sit there and be married off! I can’t stand that creep!” Haru shouted the last part but no one could blame her passion. She let out a sigh after she got her thoughts off of her chest and just looked like she felt better. Akira was almost jealous. 

“Mona-chan, why do you always talk about being human?” Haru asked Morgana who looked around thoughtfully. 

“Well… I only thought of this team as a temporary thing until I regained my memories. But the longer we went the less I was making any progress on finding out who I am or why I was born. After a while I started to worry that I had no reason to be with you guys. You all learned everything I knew and even taught me things I didn’t think were possible. So I started looking for my reason to be around. I couldn’t think of anything, and then the fact I was useless came up.” Morgana explained. 

“You’re not--” Akira started but Akechi touched his shoulder to quiet him so Morgana could continue. 

“I don’t have anyone I want to save or get revenge on. Someone like me has no place here… That’s why… to me… this team is...” Morgana trailed off until he was encouraged by the others to keep talking,” it’s the only place I can belong! I wanna stay here forever!” 

“Mona.” Akira smiled softly as around the room everyone expressed their own joy at Morgana being honest. 

“There’s no telling what kind of trouble you’ll get into if you stay with me!” Morgana tried to reel back the happy words. “You better be sure about this!” 

“I believe it’s too late for words like that.” Akechi shook his head. “We’re too deep in to just back out quietly.” 

“Well, if you’re sure…” Morgana settled back down,” thanks. My mind is all set. I’m staying right here. This is where I belong. I’ll work hard to make up for all the trouble I’ve caused.” 

“I expect so.” Akechi folded his arms then glanced to Akira as if to silently suggest Morgana start with him. 

“Shush you.” Akira reached out to lightly slap Akechi’s side with the back of his hand. “I just be yourself. Which I’ll say has always been awesome, so, you know.” Akira grinned. 

“Alright! Thank you so much.” Morgana grinned. “It’s getting pretty late. Shouldn’t you guys be worrying about the train?” 

“He’s right.” Ryuji checked the time. “We better get going.” 

“Haru, you can stay with me! I’ll arrange it.” Futaba announced. 

“Thank you!” Haru stood to follow Futaba outside with the rest. 

Akechi paused once everyone was outside to look back at Akira and Morgana,” You know Mona, he nearly killed himself trying to follow after you.” 

“Don’t make it sound so dramatic.” Akira’s expression soured. 

“I’m sorry, we are talking about you though.” Akechi shrugged with a smirk. “Good night Kurusu.” 

Once Akechi was gone Morgana spoke,” I’m sorry about everything I did.” Morgana looked down. “You okay? You were panting pretty badly back in Mementos, and you’re openly using your oxygen.” 

“To be honest, I don’t know. Takemi said she can’t pin a timeline on me anymore. My garden is kind of out of control a little. But she did tell me not to take any more flights until this is resolved.” Akira patted his chest trying to add some humor. “Everyone knows I use oxygen now though, at least until my ‘lung infection’ has cleared up.” Akira looked back to the exposed machine. “It’s getting risky. Akechi might figure me out soon.”

“I hope he does. I did just make the decision to stay with you.” Morgana sat down to scratch his ear. Silence fell between them after that before Morgana looked up at him. “I’m sorry. I ran off knowing you weren’t doing well. It’s my fault you’re in this state. I fucked up.”

“It’s fine.” Akira shook his head. “I should have listened to you sooner. I knew something was wrong but I just couldn’t pull my head out of my own ass to do it.”

“You’re kind of dealing with suffocating on hanahaki. I was the insensitive prick who thought my problems were more important.” Morgana cleaned his face. “I’ll make it up to you by working twice as hard as ever. I don’t betray you again. I promise.”

“You didn’t betray me.” Akira shook his head. “Thank you though. I might need you to help me out more than ever.”

“I could help you out by telling Akechi about your hanahaki.” Morgana teased earning a glace from Akira. “I’m just kidding. I got your back. At least until you literally can’t breathe.” Akira couldn’t argue with him then. “So, where’s my souvenir?” Morgana teased. 

“Haha. Brat.” Akira jabbed back before he stood to grab his suitcase to finally unload everything. Once he had everything out on the table he offered Morgana the handkerchief. 

“Hmm, I’ll accept this!” Morgana presented his neck for Akira to tie it off around him. “How do I look?” 

“Like you’re ready for a luau.” Akira chuckled,” I should give everyone else their stuff too.” Akira spread the other items out across the table,” Can you figure out who gets what?” 

“Hmm, Futaba asked for the cup, Boss wears hats, the pancakes... Akechi?” Morgana wondered.

“You caught that too huh?” Akira chuckled,” The hula girl is for Futaba as well and the coffee for Akechi. Since I thought something extra might be good considering some of these things look a little cheap...”

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Morgana wondered, waiting for Akira to nod. “Are you going to be okay to do Okumura’s palace?” Morgana questioned. The question felt like it was out of left field but after the way the day had gone Akira understood why Morgana was asking. The little bit of effort behind today wore Akira out to the point of near exhaustion.

Akira thought of his answer as he changed out of his uniform and into his pajamas,” I… don’t know.” Akira admitted sitting on his bed. “I want to say I can but just running around Mementos messed me up.” Akira tapped his chest. “I got medication from Takemi so I might recover some but I don’t know how well… if at all.” 

“I think for right now you might want to play support and let Akechi lead the palace group.” Morgana suggested jumping up next to Akira. “At least until you recover some. Okay?” 

“Yeah. If I can.” Akira agreed as he reached over to pet Morgana. “Thanks for coming home Mona. I missed you.” 

“You’re the only one I let do this, I hope you know!” Morgana rubbed his head against Akira’s hand. “But I missed you too. I know you’ll get better so you better not give up on me got it?”

“You’re the boss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys. i hope you enjoyed this chapter! i’m posting a few days early mostly bc i can and i doubt you guys would complain all that much. I wanted to also announce that i’ve actually fully completed this fic! well, as far as it having an ending anyway. i remember i said at some point i wanted to update twice a week after i finished the fic completely. but think i’m going to take that back now. sorry.
> 
> i need time to edit the chapters before they go up and even then i might need to add to them like i did with this one. it’ll make the fic a better read in the end. i had to like… gut this chapter when i went in for the edit i’ll tell you that. there were huge parts of this that weren’t even in it to start with. i think i kinda wrote out bones for this fic then i’m deciding to add more if editing demands. so i apologize for being a horrible liar about the updating. 
> 
> in other news, i started playing P4G on PC recently with my husband! we haven’t gotten too far since he’s been feelin’ pretty poo-y but we’ll get through it eventually! i want to get naoto into my party already. my child.
> 
> anywho. i did a lil chapter drama lama with akechi and akira. this is a fun lil set up. don’t worry. i promise it’s fine. maybe. prolly. right…. SO. I thought about leaving out morgana running off on his own but decided to still keep it in. i didn’t really want to come up with a new way to put haru in. i gave her fiance a last name since i couldn’t find one otherwise. i keep naming characters who either didn’t have a name or at least a last name. i love using akechi to bypass slow moments in the game like looking up haru and stuff. i think it fits with him being a detective and shido’s right hand ~~hit~~ man. you know? that’ll be it from me for now. stay tuned for next week! love you!
> 
> edit: I FORGOT THE FUCKING PREVIEW AGAIN FUCK. I'M SORRY. i just picked the first thing i looked at when i scrolled down it. i'm sorry y'all
> 
> preview:  
>  _ **glasses kink:** haru leave your fiancee and marry me instead.  
>  **BigBootyCarrot:** Gladly!  
>  **BigBootyCarrot:** Akira-kun right?  
>  **glasses kink:** got it in one. ( •_•) ( •_•)>⌐■-■ (⌐■ ̫ ■)  
> _


	19. trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akira is completely unable to do palaces so he passes the baton to akechi to take over for okumura's palace. while alone akira runs into a random palace and a new persona user.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's almost 1am. i'm sleepy.

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:06am: **glasses kink** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**_{_ ** _9:18am: **Haru Okumura** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _9:18am: **Haru Okumura** has joined the thread **}**_

**glasses kink** : welcome to the meme team haru.  
**Haru** : Thank you!  
**sensual keystroke:** haruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.  
**twink bara** : too early  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : Welcome to the team, Haru.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : I’m so embarrassed about these names.  
**PrinceType** : Some of them are questionable.  
**sensual strawberries** : our names are fineeee.  
**Haru** : Hmmm. Okay!  


**Haru has changed Haru’s name to BigBootyCarrot.**

**glasses kink** : haru leave your fiance and marry me instead.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Gladly!  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Akira-kun right?  
**glasses kink** : got it in one. ( •_•) ( •_•)>⌐■-■ (⌐■ ̫ ■)  
**BigBootyCarrot:** I think I know who everyone is by the names.  
**sensual keystroke** : NAME ME.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Futaba-chan!  
**twink bara** : shes good  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Ryuji-kun!  
**PrinceType** : How are you feeling today Okumura-san?  
**BigBootyCarrot** : You can call me Haru, Akechi-kun. And I’m feeling much better. The coffee at Leblanc is amazing! I doubt my day could start bad with such a delicious drink.  
**PrinceType** : I have to admit to being jealous you got to start your day with it.  
**glasses kink:** ( •_•) ( •_•)>⌐■-■ (⌐■ ̫ ■)  
**glasses kink** : all you gotta do is just spent the night at my place and i’ll treat you to morning coffee too.  
**sensual strawberries** : wow… that was smooth...  
**sensual strawberries** : anyway. what’s the plan today?  
**BigBootyCarrot** : I’m going to return home today. It’s better that my father isn’t suspicious of us.  
**PrinceType** : That’s correct.  
**glasses kink** : let’s take today to unwind and come back around to talk about okumura’s palace tomorrow.  
**PrinceType** : I agree. We’ll have to strategize before we head in.  
**sensual strawberries** : alright. see you guys tomorrow!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _2:06pm: **BigBootyCarrot** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**BigBootyCarrot** : There’s been a development.  
**PrinceType** : What’s wrong?  
**BigBootyCarrot** : My father has agreed to have me move in with my fiance on the 11th of October.  
**sensual strawberries** : WHAT?!  
**twink bara** : the fuck?!  
**glasses kink** : shit. this is bad.  
**PrinceType** : This is troubling…  
**glasses kink** : mona says we have to clear okumura’s palace by the 10th to save haru.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : If it’s not too much trouble.  
**sensual keystroke** : no trouble at all haru. we’re going to save you from that creep!  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Thank you!  
**glasses kink** : we don’t know how large okumura’s palace is going to be.  
**glasses kink** : and you guys said it was kind of like a space station. 🤔  
**glasses kink** : i wanted to talk about this in person tomorrow, but it’s kind of important we map the course to his treasure asap.  
**glasses kink** : like, how am i going to marry haru if she’s forced to marry that dude?  
**twink bara** : fake  
**glasses kink** : shuddup.  
**glasses kink** : instead of talking about ‘strategy’ tomorrow i want to cut the shit and suggest akechi lead the team in the palace.  
**PrinceType** : This is surprising.  
**glasses kink** : sorry to dump it on you so suddenly but you all saw me in mementos. i’m not fit for a palace much less a jog around the block.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : Your lungs are still weak from the infection right?  
**glasses kink** : yeah. running around mementos kicked my ass really badly.  
**glasses kink** : i need to give my lungs time to rest and recover but that’s time haru might not have, so the only responsible thing to do is pass the baton to akechi.  
**glasses kink** : that’s if it’s alright with you, akechi?  
**PrinceType** : I’ll be honest I was somewhat expecting this.  
**PrinceType** : It was between trying to wait out your infection then rush the palace or this.  
**PrinceType** : I’ll accept this change only because I fear you might be right.  
**PrinceType** : Just make sure you’re ready for the next palace.  
**glasses kink** : if there’s another after this. lol  
**PrinceType** : Fair.  
**PrinceType** : If no one has any objections we can meet outside of Okumura HQ tomorrow and get started right after school.  
**twink bara** : yeah!  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Thank you everyone.  
**sensual keystroke** : thank us when we finish this!  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Alright! I’ll have to make it extra special.  
**glasses kink** : haru… i don’t deserve you.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : You deserve whatever makes you happy!  
**glasses kink** : i’m gunna cry.  
**glasses kink** : okay. i gotta support my team.  
**glasses kink** : so i’ll back you guys up with equipment and snacks.  
**PrinceType** : Just stay out of the palace. We’ll meet you outside of it but I want you to keep out until you’re back in fighting form. It would be bad if Okumura decided to attack us at the entrance one day.  
**glasses kink** : yes dear.  
**sensual strawberries** : UGH JUST DATE ALREADY.  
**glasses kink** : sorry i’m marrying haru. i’m suddenly the stereotypical het dude.  
**sensual keystroke** : this is actually why akira had to leave the team.  
**sensual keystroke** : he became straight and lost all his powers.  
**twink bara** : how do we fix him you think?  
**sensual strawberries** : follow my advice and date akechi-kun.  
**glasses kink** : ummmmmmmmm. no. too high maintenance.  
**PrinceType** : I feel offended. How would you know without trying?  
**glasses kink** : WOW I’M SUDDENLY ILLITERATE. GOOD LUCK GUYS. KICK SOME ASS FOR ME.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ 💐SECRETS ARE HARD💐 _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _3:10pm:_ **Futaba __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Futaba** : wow.  
**Ryuji** : wow  
**Yusuke** : Wow.  
**Akira** : what?  
**Futaba** : THAT SET UP WAS SO GOOD. YOU SHOULD HAVE TAKEN IT YOU IDIOT!!!!  
**Akira** : sorry i’m still suddenly illiterate and can’t read.  
**Yusuke** : Ryuji, Futaba, we should drop hints during the palace yes?  
**Akira** : no.  
**Ryuji** : i thought you couldn’t read?  
**Akira** : i mean, oh nooooo i can’t read.  
**Ryuji** : we totes should tho  
**Akira** : i hate you all and i wish i could make you all forget about my hanahaki.  
**Futaba** : y’all hear summin?  
**Ryuji** : nope  
**Yusuke** : Let’s continue to plan on how to save Akira from his hanahaki.  
**Akira** : stopppppppp.  
**Ryuji** : mona is that you?  
**Akira** : no.  
**Morgana** : vccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc  
**Akira** : he said fuck off and don’t tell akechi shit.  
**Ryuji** : i think that actually meant VICTORY like were gunna do it  
**Akira** : i’m GUNNA yell at you again.  
**Ryuji** : i got my fill  
**Ryuji** : yell at yusuke instead  
**Akira** : i will yell at all of you.  
**Futaba** : we promise not to hint to akechi that you’ve got a big dumb gay crush on him.  
**Akira** : i feel like you’re lying to me.  
**Futaba** : no i swear it on my brand new tablet.  
**Akira** : … hm. doubt.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

___________________________________________________

A week had come and gone with his team crawling through Okumura’s palace leaving Akira vastly by himself. He’d just gotten Morgana back home but he saw very little of him now. He’d come home with Futaba and leave for the palace with Ann. Akira didn’t realize how attached he’d gotten to having Morgana around all the time and frankly worried if he was ever really going to be able to function properly without him again. Well, if he died soon it wouldn’t be a huge problem.

During all his downtime Akira turned to other things he could do. He spent time strengthening his Personas in the Velvet Room, fulfilling requests from the twins which was basically just babysitting, and speaking with a kid he met in an arcade to get better gun skills. If he could turn into a better ranged fighter he might be able to return to the fight for at least a little while.

All of his traveling and side work left Akira with still frequent floral attacks. However, the flowers were smaller which was a small blessing, but they were bloodier than ever. A short trip to Takemi sorted out that the current round of treatment had done well to force out the larger flowers and new blooms without much damage being done now.

She hinted that it might be possible for Akira to regain some of his lung function. Takemi told him she had found that his garden had shrunk some. His throat was tearing from the friction of the plants and just general coughing so Takemi prescribed him something else to help with the healing before sending him on his way once again. She was worried about how much time Akira had left but he didn’t have time to think about it, or rather, he didn’t allow himself any.

Akira could almost constantly taste copper now as September faded into October without him really noticing. He barely registered how things were moving when a reminder to change to winter uniforms brought attention to the date,” October third.” Akira mumbled looking at his phone after the final bell rang for the day. 

“Akechi thinks we’re close to the end.” Ann said, turning to Akira. “I’ll take Mona with me like normal. How have you been feeling?” 

“I’m getting better.” Akira smiled. “I can actually kind of jog now. Takemi says I should be able to run a mile by next week.” Akira joked. He was sure that was a lie even but he did feel better and short runs weren’t ruining him like it had in Mementos. “The palace is that complicated?” 

“It’s, like, literally space in some sections.” Ann sighed as she set her bag on the ground for Morgana to slip out of Akira’s desk and into her bag. “I’ve decided I never want to be an astronaut at least. Got my fill of floating weightless through nothing. It’s kind of terrifying.” 

“I don’t envy that.” Akira offered her a pitied look but was suddenly grateful he wasn’t in that palace. If the pressure of being on a plane messed up his lungs to this point there was no telling what space would have done to him, even if it was Metaverse space. “Anything on the shutdowns?” Akira asked standing to walk Ann out.

“Not yet. It’s kind of worrying. We’re thinking we might have to get it out of his shadow ourselves.” Ann explained as they were joined by Ryuji.

“Are we talking about the palace?” Ryuji asked, earning a nod from Ann. “Man, Akira I miss you man. Akechi is taking _forever_ in there. It’s driving me fuckin’ crazy. He’s like… I dunno. He doesn’t think outside the box enough?” 

“Ryuji, all you’ve been doing is complaining about it. You could offer some helpful advice when we get stuck you know?” Ann rolled her eyes before Morgana popped out. 

“If it were Ryuji leading we’d still be stuck back in that area with all the keycard clearances!” Morgana teased. “Akechi’s pace is fine, you’re just impatient.” 

“Just stick with it.” Akira encouraged Ryuji. “Hopefully I’ll be alright enough to at least participate in the actual treasure heist. I’m going to check with Takemi today after we’re done here.” 

“I hope she gives you the okay!” Ann patted Akira on the back. “Just don’t rush too much.” 

“I’ll be careful.” Akira promised. “You guys better do the same.”

“Of course!” Ann promised. “I’m going to run to the bathroom first. Hold my bag?” Ann offered his bag to Ryuji before she rushed off. 

“So…” Ryuji looked around at the students walking by,” how’s the garden?” 

“It’s better actually.” Akira turned to Ryuji. “Has the palace really been that bad or do you just not like Akechi that much?” 

“Both? He’s had times when we’re trying to figure something out that he just stands around all checked out and shit.” Ryuji explained. 

“Checked out?” Akira raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, like, we’ll have an idea we’re trying to hash out and he doesn't even listen.” Ryuji shrugged before a smirk crossed his face. “The only time he really seems to pay attention is when we tell him how you’re holding up. You haven’t seen him since we started huh?” 

“Nope. Between his work and that palace I haven’t even gotten a text from him.” Akira shook his head feeling a little sad about it. He missed Akechi coming to the cafe for a cup of coffee or even just a chat. On the other hand less Akechi might be why his garden was doing as well as it was. “To be fair I haven’t heard from Yusuke either. I wonder if I’d hear from you guys if we didn’t go to school together.” 

“Maybe,” Ryuji shoved his hands in his pockets,” or maybe you should message him.”

“You guys are busy. I’m not going to keep him up at night with my texting.” Akira shook his head. 

“Dude, I am telling you, just shoot him a text now. I guarantee he does better in the palace if you message him.” Ryuji nudged Akira in the ribs softly. 

“You’re full of shit.” Akira rolled his eyes. 

“Try it!” Morgana called out, he was trying to keep quiet since there were so many people around and he didn’t want people to hear him meowing from Ann’s bag. 

“No.” Akira folded his arms. 

“What do I have to do to make you do it?” Ryuji begged. 

“Hm. Let’s see… Buy me lunch all next week.” Akira smirked. 

“Deal.” Ryuji offered his hand. 

“Seriously?” Akira looked down at the hand. 

“Yeah, I’m serious.” Ryuji motioned with his hand. “You in or not?” 

Akira stared at the hand for a few seconds before he let out an irradiated sigh,” Fine.” He took Ryuji’s hand in a firm shake then took his phone out. 

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _3:31pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : hiya.  
**Goro** : Hello.  
**Akira** : how’s it going?  
**Goro** : Fine.  
**Akira** : cool.  
**Goro** : Did you need something?  
**Akira** : no. just… saying hi.  
**Goro** : I see.  
**Akira** : well… good luck in the palace.  
**Goro** : Would you mind if I came by after?  
**Akira** : you’re going to ask me if you can come to a publicly open cafe?  
**Goro** : Perhaps I have the intention of visiting you in your attic.  
**Akira** : valid.  
**Goro** : Or it could be after closing.  
**Akira** : also valid.  
**Akira** : please feel free to come by.  
**Goro** : Alright. I’ll see you later tonight.  
**Akira** : cool.  
**Akira** : be safe.  
**Goro** : You too.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

“ _You too_? Good to see he turns stupid talking with someone he’s crushin’ on just like the rest of us.” Ryuji snorted reading over Akira’s shoulder. “And what was that?! You were _so awkward_ even I felt bad!” 

“Shut up.” Akira punched Ryuji on the arm as his face reddened. “I don’t need you making it worse.”

“Listen, I’m just being a bro supporting you.” Ryuji backed up with his hands up. “I bet we finish this palace tonight now.”

“Sure… If you guys finish it I’ll take back the lunch deal.” Akira laughed. 

“Now I’m even more motivated.” Ryuji flexed as Ann joined them again. “Let’s get going. We got a palace to finish!” 

“Sure?” Ann looked confused as she took her bag back. “See you later Akira.” Once Ann and Ryuji were gone Akira wondered if he made a mistake but it was too late now. 

Now that his friends were gone he instead had time to think on another issue, Kasumi. “I wonder when Yoshizawa will get back to me.” Akira wondered looking at his phone again. A few hours ago he had found a charm that belonged to her. She ran past him that morning looking rather upset about something and dropped it without looking at him. 

With a sigh Akira put his phone away then walked down the steps to the front of the school before his phone rang. He looked at it before answering a call back from Kasumi,” Hey, Yoshizawa. I was just wondering if you were going to get back to me.” 

“Hi senpai, sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner,” Kasumi spoke through the phone and it sounded terrible. It was a little hard to even make out,” I just got the message you sent me. My phone is really messing up… You found my good luck charm right?”

“Yeah, can we meet somewhere so I can return it to you?” Akira asked looking back at the school. Maybe she was still inside?

“Yeah, could you meet me in Odaiba,” Kasumi was cutting out badly again,” in front of the stadium where we met before.” Akira vaguely recalled the incident, it was ages ago at this point. Akira tried to agree to her suggestion but as he spoke the telling sound of a dropped signal ended the call for him. 

“Maybe I should have Futaba look at her poor phone one of these days.” Akira hummed before he put his own phone away once more. It was time to head to the stadium.

Finding the place wasn’t hard, it was a pretty large construction site after all, but as he spotted Kasumi something happened. She raised her hand to wave him down but then the world around them shifted as it usually did with a palace. 

A feeling of dread crept up his spine as Akira stopped dead in his tracks to look up at the massive palace forming before his very eyes. It was probably one of the larger palaces he had seen. Akira felt his mouth go dry as he looked back around for Kasumi but she was gone and he was in his Joker attire,” Shit.”

Akira took out his phone to leave the Metaverse but stopped with his thumb over the button. He thought about where Kasumi might have gone. He had been close enough to her that if his phone had brought him in then it might have brought her in too. 

“Have to find Yoshizawa,” Akira told himself before he pocketed his phone and began to head into the palace. The gate baring his way was an easy thing to clear, and it didn’t cause him to feel any bit worn out so that was good. He ran down the path before him and to an elevator that took him up and into the building. 

On the lobby level Akira walked off the elevator to find that no one was there; no cognitions, no shadows. From the outside the palace didn’t really look like it was finished so it was possible the ruler for this place had yet to form his full distortion yet. 

To Akira’s right were stairs and as he cleared them he spotted display boards covered in notes and pictures. When Akira crept closer he could make out that they talked about cognition and trauma of the heart. Akira would have looked them over more carefully if he hadn’t remembered why he was in this palace to begin with. Once he found the only doors leading to the next area Akira rushed to them only to find them locked. He gave them one more kick before he started to look around for another way into the room. 

High overhead he could see large cables he could grapple to. He still felt okay as he moved closer to the grapple point to pull himself up and onto the cables. They didn’t sway much under his feet so he could run along them to the next area just in time to hear Kasumi loudly question about someone being there. 

“Yoshizawa!” Akira called running down the path to find her face to face with a cognitive version of herself. He couldn’t hear what she was saying from where he had landed but Akira didn’t have time to care about that. This was dangerous. Though not the way Akira expected as a shadow formed behind the cognition to attack it from behind and knock her on the ground as Kasumi also collapsed in pain. 

“You must…” The cognition begged before dissolving right before Kasumi’s eyes. 

“Yoshizawa, are you alright?!” Akira reached Kasumi as the shadow burst into the form of some kind of yellow bug. 

“That voice… Kurusu-senpai?!” Kasumi questioned looking up at Akira.

“Just stay behind me okay?” Akira circled around to put himself between Kasumi and the shadow. However the shadow began to talk about Kasumi needing to accept herself and that the palace ruler lamented the foolishness birthed from her pain. What the hell did that even mean? 

Suddenly echoey voices filled the room. Each was a different line about Kasumi’s special treatment leading up to Kasumi’s meet results not being enough and about how they’d ‘lost one’ and the ‘one we have not giving them the results they wanted.’ All these horrible things being said about Kasumi made Akira’s heart tighten, it was too much for anyone to take and he couldn’t imagine how Kasumi was feeling. 

Akira reached up for his mask to fight off the shadow before him when Kasumi began to talk. “I’ve had enough of this…” Kasumi spoke from the ground, drawing Akira’s attention. “You’re telling me I’m not cutting it? As if I don’t know that better than anyone! Still, I don’t care what anyone says about me.” Kasumi was getting emotional but more importantly Akira could sense it, an oncoming awakening, how did he keep finding people like this?

“I will not tolerate anyone speaking ill of our dream!” Kasumi shouted before she started to get back up to her feet. Akira took a step back out of the way to clear the path for what would be another powerful release of initial power. ”It’s all in _your_ best interest. Filling my life with this pressure, demanding the results _you_ want, and now you’re all branding **me** a failure?! Let me remind you who you’re talking to!” Kasumi leveled a glare at the shadow. “I AM KASUMI YOSHIZAWA.” 

At the shout Kasumi flinched suddenly then began to stagger, but Akira didn’t worry. No. He knew what was happening. This was the awakening Akira was waiting for. He watched as Kasumi gripped the sides of her head and groaned in pain. After a few seconds Kasumi lifted her head back up and from the angle Akira stood he could see her mask. After a moment she gripped the sides of her mask to pull it off with a dramatic cry of pain.

With a pulse of power radiating from Kasumi, Akira rose his hands and dug his heels in at the force that threatened to knock him off of his feet. Behind Kasumi a blue crystal persona hovered nearby, as for Kasumi herself, she looked pissed. 

“Strong.” Akira mumbled watching Kasumi draw her weapon and call for a match. “I’ll back you up!” Akira called, rushing to stand at Kasumi’s side. “Just follow my lead okay?” 

“Yes senpai!” Kasumi agreed as Akira drew his dagger from the inside of his coat. 

Akira had no idea what the shadow was weak to so he started like he always did, picking through each element,” _Ananta!_ ” Akira summoned his new snake persona to unleash a nuclear attack on the shadow in front of him but it didn’t actually do much other than damage.

“I think I understand.” Kasumi said before she took a turn at attacking to unleash a bless attack that knocked the foe onto the ground. “How was that?” 

“Perfect. Now go all out!” Akira called, leading Kasumi into an all out attack. After a bit more fighting the shadow was defeated. Almost as soon as the shadow vanished Kasumi’s knees buckled. “Hey don’t fall over on me now.” Akira moved to her side to support her.

“I can’t be weak anymore!” Kasumi insisted before dismissing Akira to continue standing on her own. After she caught her breath Kasumi looked at Akira. “Senpai… Why are we dressed like this?” Kasumi lifted a bit of her coat up. 

“Yeah… that’s a long story. Can I buy you a coffee and talk about it… away from here?” Akira asked just before something yelled in the distance. “Like now.”

“O-okay!” Kasumi agreed, following Akira in a mad dash out of the palace. Once they were outside Akira leaned against the gate to catch his breath as Kasumi inspected her clothes once more. “We’re back here? And… my clothes are normal again?” 

“This is where we were before we went into the Metaverse.” Akira explained once he had recovered enough to push off of the wall. The one fight wasn’t too bad at least maybe he could help with the palace by the end. “It’s a long story, so let’s sit down and talk, okay?” 

“Sure.” Kasumi agreed following Akira as he led them to the nearest cafe he could find. Once they had ordered drinks and sat down away from people, Kasumi asked,” What was that place? Please tell me everything. I need to know what just happened to me.”

“I know how you feel.” Akira rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll start from the beginning? That place we were just in is something we call the Metaverse…” Akira began to tell Kasumi how he’d first encountered the Metaverse and what palaces were, then explained how he had also awakened to his own persona. By the end Kasumi had drained her drink and sat with a concerned look on her face. “It’s a lot…” Akira finished.

“Yes… normally I wouldn’t believe any of that but after seeing all that for myself…” Kasumi ran her thumb over the side of her cup,” senpai, you’re a Phantom Thief aren’t you?” 

“Yeah.” Akira nodded. 

“I knew it…” Kasumi looked thoughtful before growing alarmed. “Ah! When we were at the cafe with Akehci-san-- The things I said! I’m sorry.”

“It’s not a big deal. Everyone sees things how they want to. I can’t fault you.” Akira shook his head. “Before we get too deep into things, let me give this back to you.” Akira pulled out Kasumi’s charm to give it to her. “You looked pretty upset this morning so I thought you might want it back.” 

“Thank you!” Kasumi accepted the charm. “Though it didn’t help me much…” Kasumi sighed,” I haven’t had a chance to tell you I only placed third in the last meet. Because of that the school has been telling me if I don’t improve my placement that my honors status will be revoked.” 

“Seriously?” Akira frowned. “Why?” 

“They can’t give special treatment to someone who doesn’t meet their high standards.” Kasumi explained. “Maruki-sensei tried to defend me but there wasn’t much he could do other than encourage me to keep trying.” 

“I’m sorry adults are being shitty to you, Yoshizawa.” Akira offered his sympathy. “I know too well what it’s like to be at the top of everyone’s expectations and then end up on the street because you didn’t match up.” That was basically exactly what happened to him after his assault charge.

“Senpai…” Kasumi gave Akira a pitied look before shifting to a determined look,” I’m going to keep doing my best and you are too.” 

“That’s the plan.” Akira smiled. “Going into that palace cleared up any doubts I had about being able to fight again at least.” 

“You haven’t been able to?” Kasumi tilted her head to one side. 

“I got sick pretty recently and it was affecting my ability to perform in palaces. My doctor said I needed time to recover and I think after today it proves I’m ready again.” Akira tapped his chest lightly. “How about you join me upon my return to the group?” 

“Huh? Like, join the Phantom Thieves?” Kasumi questioned.

“You fought well, you’d make an incredible addition to the team.” Akira spoke but his mind added on that she could take his place after he died. “You don’t have to make a decision now.”

“I see,” Kasumi hummed as she fell into thought,” thank you, but I’m going to have to turn down your offer.” Kasumi answered faster than Akira had expected. “When I awakened to my, uh, persona? I also realized something, I can’t keep obsessing over my shortcomings in gymnastics like I do. I can’t join you until I sort those feelings out… I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize.” Akira shook his head. “You have to focus on you. It’s not like we can promise you the time you need to work on your gymnastics if you were to join us.” Akira offered a smile. “You just do what you need to do and if you change your mind, you can let me know.” 

“Thank you for understanding senpai.” Kasumi smiled in return. “I promise not to tell anyone anything about this. I just hope that you can forgive me.” 

“There’s nothing to forgive. Just remember if you need help, reach out to me, or Akechi, okay?” It felt wrong putting Akechi on blast like this but Akira wasn’t sure how long he would be around for and if Kasumi needed help at least Akechi would be able to help her. 

“Akechi-san?” Kasumi questioned. 

“He’s actually one of us,” Akira admitted putting a finger to his lips with a smile. “Don’t tell him I told you unless you really need help and I’m not around. He might get mad at me. I’m trusting you with this.” 

“Oh! Of course!” Kasumi covered her mouth with her hand for a moment before lowering it. “But thank you, you make sure you reach out to me if you need me too. Okay?” 

“I can do that.” Akira agreed. “It’s about time to head home, you ready?” 

“Yes.” Kasumi agreed as she stood with Akira to make their way back to the train station. “I’ll see you later, senpai.” 

_______________________________________________________

Akira returned home to find that everyone was already waiting for him. He started to already suspect that they’d cleared the palace then. Damn. There went his free lunch. “Hey guys.” He lifted his hand to greet them before Akechi pointed up toward his room.

“Sure.” Akira nodded then led the group up to his bedroom. Once they had the table set up everyone took a seat. “How’d it go?” 

“We found the treasure.” Makoto said first. “We’re just down to sending the calling card now.” 

“Sorry it took so long.” Akechi explained. 

“I doubt I could have made it go any faster.” Akira shook his head. He could see the stupid grin on Ryuji’s face.

“We wanted to ask before we sent the calling card,” Yusuke spoke a bit slowly,” are you alright to fight perhaps?” 

“I am actually.” Akira nodded with a smile. He hadn’t gotten time to see Takemi today but after running into Kasumi he was sure he’d be fine. That made him pause though, he hadn’t asked Kasumi if she wanted him to keep her secret. He thought it best to keep it to himself for now. Maybe tell Akechi since she knew he was a Phantom Thief. 

“I saw my doctor today and she cleared me to run around or whatever so I can join the fight again.” Akira leaned back in his seat. It was a lie, but honestly it wasn’t the worst one he’d told so far. “I took a lap around town just to make sure and I didn’t even wheeze.” 

“Good. That’ll make me more comfortable going into whatever happens with Okumura’s shadow. I doubt we’ll get out of there without a fight.” Akechi nodded. “As for the calling card, Haru-chan, would you like to write it?”

“I don’t think I should.” Haru folded her hands together on the table. “I’m not sure I should. I don’t know how to word it without making it… very personal.” Haru chewed her bottom lip. 

“Well, how about Makoto-chan then?” Akechi looked to Makoto.

“I’ll do it. I’ll have it prepared tomorrow. We’ll be counting on Haru to deliver it.” Makoto looked to Haru. “Do you think you can do it?” 

“I can, I’ll be honest that I’m a little worried about doing this, but it has to be done. There’s no more time.” Haru looked troubled. 

“Yes, we’re cutting it close here.” Yusuke agreed. “All you must do is make sure that he reads the card. Once you’re sure he’s read it let us know and we’ll gather to go at his palace one more time.” 

“Right. I’ll make sure he reads it.” Haru agreed. “You’re sure he’ll be fine?” 

“We’ve been doing it this way for the better part of six months now. Everyone so far has turned out just fine after.” Akira promised. “We just need to do it the same as always.” 

“Right.” Ryuji agreed. “Don’t stress about it Haru. Just get some sleep tonight and tomorrow we’ll change his heart.” 

“Oh, but it might take a few days to really sink in.” Ann commented worriedly. “Kamoshida took weeks, and Kaneshiro too.” 

“We still have to try.” Akechi said. “If anything, changing his heart will make him unresponsive to outside connections, so when it comes time for Haru to have to move he might not force her.” 

“Okay.” Haru nodded.

“Let’s call it for today and get some rest.” Futaba stretched her arms up over her head. “I’m pooped.” 

“Yeah. Let’s go home.” Ann stood to pick up her thanks. “See you tomorrow Akira.” 

“Bye.” Akira watched as everyone left but Akechi, who stayed seated for a while longer until the last person finally left the building. “Are you going to ask if I’m really okay?” 

“No, I believe you, something about the way you look right now is convincing.” Akechi looked him over. “Rather I want to say I respect you. When going through palaces with you I never thought that they were that difficult, but you seem to have an internal compass that takes you exactly where you need to go.” 

“Ryuji get under your skin?” Akira had to ask. 

“A little,” Akechi admitted with a weak smile,” but he had a point. I wasn’t working efficiently and I have to wonder if it’s my own shortcomings or if it was because you weren’t there with your… insight. It made me realize I value you much more than I previously thought...” 

“You're going to make me blush.” Akira reached up to play with his bangs nervously. “I’m usually just fumbling through palaces without much thought. I just guess. Well, that might not actually make you feel any better about stuff huh? Sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize, but I do admit, you do have a certain flair with that fumbling don’t you?” Akechi smiled fondly and it was near enough to melt Akira’s heart. “I’m glad you can join us again tomorrow. I can’t say I want to lead the group again unless there was no other choice. Not that I _hate_ it but I much prefer you being at the front.” 

“I’ll keep it together.” Akira promised.

“You’d better.” Akechi warned him then motioned to stand up. “I should be going now. “

“Ah! Wait, I finally remembered and I’ve got you here,” Akira jumped to his feet first to gather Akechi’s gifts,” a month late but here’s what I got you from Hawaii. Sorry for forgetting for so long.”

Akechi held his hand out for Akira to give him the bag of coffee and the pancake stack. The pancake was realistic in detail but not much bigger than a 500 yen coin. Akechi inspected it with a raised eyebrow before laughing. “What prompted this?” 

“I remember you mentioning something about pancakes.” Akira shrugged. “I have a mind like a steel trap for dumb facts. I hope this was a good one to retain.” 

“Well, you’re not mistaken that I enjoy them.” Akechi looked at the keychain thoughtfully before he took his keys out of his pocket to try linking the keyring on. His gloves proved to be in the way though so he pulled off his left hand with his teeth. It was probably innocent in Akechi’s eyes but Akira felt his face threatening to turn red on the spot. Once Akechi had the ring on he put his glove back back on and spun his keys around on his finger. “There.” 

“You’re banned from the cafe. Go away.” Akira pointed at the stairs, his face betraying him as he flushed red. 

Akechi laughed, clearly not taking Akira seriously, and leaned forward to inspect his face. “Was it the way I took my glove off? Honestly Kurusu, you’re pretty weak willed in that way aren’t you?” Akechi laughed a little harder then turned the coffee over to read the back. “I think I’ll leave this here for you to make for me. I don’t have the means to make it at home and I dread to think I might burn them if I tried. Unless you really mean that I’m banned?” Akechi looked back to Akira expectantly. 

“It was a joke…” Akira admitted with a pout as he folded his arms.

“Well, that settles it then. I’ll let you hold onto this.” Akechi passed the coffee back to Akira. “We can enjoy them together. Perhaps over some delicious pancakes?” 

“Sounds like a breakfast date.” Akira joked but Akechi looked thoughtful at it.

“We could. How about Sunday? I could come over before Boss opens up for the day.” Akechi suggested. 

“Seriously?” Akira wasn’t sure what to make of this suddenly but his face was turning red again. Damn Akechi.

“ _Do iiiiiiit._ ” Morgana hissed from the stairs. 

“STOP EAVESDROPPING!” Akira shouted at Morgana, his face turning into a tomato at that point.

“In the words of Lady Ann, _just date already!_ ” Morgana shouted back before running down stairs again when Akira threatened to throw the coffee beans at him.

“It seems the notion is spreading isn’t it?” Akechi laughed as he stood. “I suppose my flirting back doesn’t help dissuade it.” Akechi smoothed his jacket down as if to buy some time to think before he simply turned to flash a smile at Akira. “I’ll take my leave here and see you tomorrow, Kurusu. Get some rest.” 

“Okay, see you.” Akira waved as Akechi made his way downstairs and left. A little while later Morgana came back up. “You _suck_ you know that?” Akira glared at the not-cat.

“I’m just trying to help!” Morgana defended himself. “November is going to be here before we know it and I did tell you I would do whatever I needed to to keep you alive right?” 

“Mona, don’t.” Akira warned him with a cold glare. 

“What? He didn’t seem all that opposed to it. Did he say no?” Morgana jumped onto the desk. “Well? Did he get upset?” 

“N-no, but…” Akira chewed his bottom lip then walked over to put the coffee down on his desk. Akechi didn’t seem like he was against the idea. He even admitted that he was _flirting back_ but Akira was still terrified of choking to death right in front of him if he was wrong. “Just, let me work it out myself.” 

“Okay but I’m going to tell you what I see, what everyone sees. I see someone who missed you the last few weeks we were crawling through that palace, and it wasn’t just for your brain. Ryuji was right, when we met up today suddenly everything was a lot easier to do, he even fought better. He _missed_ you.” Morgana spoke smugly. “Akechi’s a bright guy, no way he was getting stumped on easy puzzles. He was distracted, and I bet my tail he was thinking about **you**.” 

“Stop getting my hopes up.” Akira buried his face in his hands. “I can’t deal with this.” 

“Just don’t give up on him, Akira.” Morgana tapped Akira’s arm with his paw. “Give it a shot. _SOON_.” Rather than reply with words Akira made a sound of distress before going over to his bed to collapse into it with a thump. Today had been long.

_______________________________________________________

The following day the group met up to give Haru the calling card then waited for her to deliver it. After an hour Haru sent them the message that the deed was done and it was time to head into the palace. Before they could go in through Haru let them know what her father turned the card into the police right away. 

“Huh, he seems to know we’re going to go after him right away doesn’t he?” Akira frowned. 

“To think he would deliver the card to the police himself,” Akechi mused. “I wonder how many he’s bought.” 

“It’s possible that it’s a fair few.” Haru chewed her bottom lip. “He’s probably not worried about implicating himself in any wrong doing since he has the money to brush it all away if needed.” 

“What scum.” Yusuke frowned before he looked to Haru with a panicked expression. “I’m sorry Haru.” 

“No, you’re right.” Haru shook her head. “He’s not a good person.”

“The forum has been going nuts since the announcement.” Futaba scrolled along her phone. “A lot of it is just fluffing and people saying whatever they want.” 

“Ugh, why are people treating this like it’s a game?” Ann groaned.

“We can think about that later. For now we need to head in before we run out of time.” Akechi stood. “Are we ready?” 

“Yes.” Haru stood as well. “Let’s change my father’s heart.”

“Okay,” Akira stood as well. “It’s time to get in there.”

“If you still feel sluggish just hang in the back, got it?” Akechi warned.

“I promise to be careful.” Akira placed one hand over his heart then crossed his fingers behind his back with the other. The motion was obvious and when Akechi glared at him Akira showed both hands and promised again with a laugh. With that flirting out of his system, the team finally set out to Okumura’s palace. 

Akira kept behind Akechi as the group made their way to the safe room closest to the treasure. Once it they were ready to go after the treasure, Akira took up leading. He couldn’t help himself. He missed the thrill of stealing a treasure and crawling through a palace.

“Is that...a UFO?” Akira questioned as they closed in on the treasure location. 

“It looks like Okumura is getting ready to blast off.” Ryuji frowned before the PA system announced just that. As the group got closer alarms began to sound through the area calling for an emergency launch to commence soon. After that the treasure, a weird sphere was snatched up and taken out of view. 

“Of course.” Akechi hissed clearly annoyed. “For once it’d be nice if it just sat there.”

“Kamoshida’s did.” Akira shrugged. “That was the only time…”

“I’m almost sad I missed that one…” Akechi admitted. “Anyway, let’s follow it.” 

Without much time to lose the party rushed after the treasure as fast as they could. Eventually they caught up to the treasure just in time to catch Okumura trying to get onto a spaceship. Okumura got on his knees to beg for his treasure not to be stolen, and for a moment Haru considered it, but then the trap came up.

“Well, there goes his chance.” Akechi frowned as Okumura tried to buy Morgana who laughed then pulled out his slingshot to shoot the remote out of his hand and lower the field they had been trapped in. 

Once free the party moved out of it and gathered for a fight, or rather, some kind of fight. All Okumura was good at was summoning robotic minions to fight on his behalf, one of them being an alien robo-Haru. It wasn’t until the end of the fight Okumura sent Haru-bot forth to actually fight.

Once the last of the robots was out of the way Okumura was easy to take down. He hit the floor with a pathetic yelp then began to beg for forgiveness again, a note of finality in his voice. This time he really was done. Akira stood back and listened as Okumura promised to free Haru of the marriage and that he would confess. Before he could start to fade away though, Ryuji stepped forward,” You were responsible for all the shutdowns weren’t you?” 

“I admit I spent large sums of money to help my company grow. I used what I could to crush any who stood in my way,” Okumura explained,” but I’m not personally responsible! I had a contract! All I did was make requests and pay, then the targets just fell off the board!” 

“So… there’s someone who works for you.” Ann looked thoughtful. 

“With whom did you form the contract?” Haru asked. Okumura began to cry at this. Was he scared to say? Akira opened his mouth to repeat the question but before he could the palace began to rumble the ship was still trying to take off.

“Damn it. We have to get out of here.” Akechi looked up at the treasure. It was still pretty high up and out of reach.

“Wait! Mr. CEO can’t you stop it?!” Morgana demanded of Okumura but he just kept weeping. “He’s not responding and we can’t throw our lives away like this. We have to get out. Grab the treasure!” Morgana pointed up before Akira moved his hand to grapple the treasure and bring it down to them. “Good! One more thing, Okumura, have you seen the criminal’s face?” 

Okumura looked at each member before he opened his mouth to speak but a powerful explosion next to them nearly threw everyone off balance. “No time! Run!” Akechi called getting everyone running. “I’ll bring up the rear, go!” He pointed before Yusuke and Ryuji took off. Akira began to jog as well, only pausing to look back when Haru asked about her father. “He’ll be fine! We won’t be if we get caught in the blast. Let’s go!” Akechi demanded of her before Haru and Morgana began to run.

Akira followed them around the corner to stop when he realized Akechi wasn’t right behind him. He turned back to look back around the corner as Akechi pulled Okumura close and was saying something to him. Akira opened his mouth to call that there was no time to keep trying to drag info out of Okumura when another explosion forced a thick cloud of smoke across his vision. Akira couldn’t see past the wall and suddenly worried Akechi was caught in the blast.

Akira started to make his way back toward where he’d seen Akechi last when he ran face first into him. The crash had him falling backwards until Akechi caught his arm and pulled him back up. “What are you doing?!” 

“I could ask you the same! What are you taking your time for?!” Akira asked but Akechi ignored him in favor of grabbing him by the wrist to run them out of the palace as fast as he could or rather that was the plan when they came up on Mona-van waiting for them with the backdoor open and Yusuke leaning out of it. 

“Come on!” Yusuke shouted, holding his hand out for them as Mona-van began to move slowly. Akechi reached for Yusuke’s hand to get into the back before yanking Akira in after him. Yusuke then slammed the door shut before Makoto slammed on the gas to get them going. The momentum sent everyone in the car against the backs of their seats, or Akechi, Yusuke, and Akira’s case, the back of the trunk. 

Explosion after explosion rocked the van back and forth as it drove down the hall. Akechi gripped Akira close to him covering his head the best he could until they finally escaped. Once again the party was dumped unceremoniously outside of the entrance of the palace drawing the attention of a few people walking by.

“We-we made it.” Ryuji let out a long breath. “I thought we were gunna get blown up.” 

“Saaame.” Ann dragged with a labored breath.

“What the hell were you two doing back there anyway?” Ryuji shot at Akira and Akechi as the two stood up. “We coulda died because you were dicking around!” 

“I wanted to try getting Okumura to talk once more. He ended up fading out before he could give me any info.” Akechi looked disappointed. “So we’re not any closer to finding out the identity of the criminal. All we know is that he’s working for someone else.” 

“Damn.” Ryuji kicked the ground in annoyance. “What do we do now?” 

“It’s been a long day, I think we should go our separate ways here.” Akechi suggested.

“I think that’s a good idea.” Akira agreed. “His shadow might not have told us anything but it’s possible we might be able to get something out of the real Okumura.” 

“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens with his change of heart.” Makoto said before watching Haru pick up a plastic model kit. “Looks like that was what the core of his treasure really was.” 

“A model kit?” Ryuji frowned. “Can’t your family buy like a million of those?” Ryuji asked Haru. 

“My father told me something before he changed. When he was a child he really wanted a certain model kit, but no matter how much he begged my grandfather he wouldn’t get it for him.” Haru explained,” You see, Okumura Foods has been around for generations but until my father took over the company it was small. My grandfather didn’t have the best business sense and would give out free meals or even lend people money without collateral. Debt collectors were a common thing for my father.” Haru ran a hand over the kit,” But my grandfather was a good man. He only ever wanted to help people. He wanted to give them good food and for a time my father shared that thought. I just wish he hadn’t changed.” 

“It explains why your father was so willing to step on others for his own happiness.” Yusuke summarized before Futaba gasped loudly. 

“This kit is worth a tonne!” Futaba turned her phone out toward the others. She realized it would be hard for everyone to read so she instead looked back at it. “Collector’s items go for nutso amounts but this is beyond what I was expecting. We could eat sushi for a year with this!” 

“Well, Futaba you’re the internet expert, we’ll let you sell it?” Makoto suggested looking to Akira and Akechi. 

“Yeah.” Akira agreed.

“So, the change of heart could happen right away or in a few weeks right?” Haru looked around the group.

“That’s right, for now we’ll just have to wait and see. If it comes down to the wire we can just hide you at someone’s place until it finally takes.” Morgana suggested. 

“I would rather not have to but…” Haru chewed her lip,” if I wouldn’t be a bother I’d appreciate it.” 

“We’ll keep that creep away from you Haru.” Akira promised. “Besides, you can tell him we’re getting married instead and he can jump off a bridge.” Akira grinned. 

“Thank you, Akira-kun!” Haru laughed. 

“Let’s leave it at that for now. Let’s head home.” Morgana suggested looking around the group before he was put back into Akira’s bag and Futaba took the kit from Haru.

_______________________________________________________________

That night Akira slept pretty easily, or he thought he did. It was yet another night when Igor decided to drag him into the Velvet Room. As Akira got up he started to realize more of the room had been covered in red camellia flowers in full bloom. He reached up to touch once flower in his cell before it rapidly shriveled up and died, falling to the floor silently.

“What do you plan to do about this mess inmate?” Caroline’s voice cut into his thoughts drawing Akira’s attention to the bars. He made his way over to look up at the flower over Igor’s head, finally starting to bloom. He had been wondering for a while if the flower was the rate at which his death was approaching. When the large one bloomed was he dead?

“I haven’t decided yet.” Akira answered and then looked at Igor as he spoke. 

“Your powers continue to grow as your relationships do, however judging from the look of your prison, death is coming for you quickly.” Igor motioned up at the flower over his head. “If you wish to avoid death I suggest that you do your best to resolve this crisis before anything else. I do believe that you are close to the end of your rehabilitation but a word of caution, the closer you are to the top, the further you have to fall if you slip.” 

“What does that even mean?” Akira frowned at Igor. 

“Just that you should be ready for unexpected situations.” Igor advised. “Heal your heart before you rush into your next task, or you won’t survive it.” 

“I wasn’t planning on healing my heart.” Akira decided to share with a sharp tone and a even sharper glare. “My plan was actually to leave someone else in charge and go die quietly somewhere.” Akira was sick of this stupid dream world and Igor. Maybe if he was bitchy enough with the man then Igor would pull someone else from the team into this to give them the power Akira had instead. 

“Watch your tone inmate!” Caroline hit the bars. “How dare you speak to our master like that?!” 

“I dare to because in less than two months time he’s going to need a new Trickster.” Akira explained. “You might want to expand your options. I’d start soon if I were you, because I could bit it a lot earlier.”

“If you cannot complete your rehabilitation then there is no point in continuing the game.” Igor shook his head. For a moment Akira could see his smile waver and it was at that moment Akira felt a strange panic race up his spine. “I’ll choose to allow you to still try healing your heart. If you refuse to then that is a violation of your contract.” Akira opened his mouth to ask about a contract, he couldn’t remember anything about one, but before he could get a sound out Akira’s vision blurred once more as he fell back into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im uploading on thursday again because.... i can........... ANYWAY. so i'm clearly having a lot of fun with what i've decided to try out in that akira doesn't even DO okumura's palace. akechi is perfectly able to rip through a palace at the same pace akira can lead, but the boy was DISTRACTED. ryuji proved this by his little dare. don't make fun of him. he'll prolly shoot you. we're getting into the part of the fic where i decided to really fuck with things in terms of what does and doesn't actually happen. there's a general flow that will exist but i took canon history and beat it to death with a rock.
> 
> i usually have more to say but it's one in the morning when i'm posting this so i'm just going to drop this and go off to bed.
> 
> preview: __  
> After an hour of just gaming Akechi called it,” Well, that was rather fun. My hand will be sore tomorrow.”
> 
> _“Thanks for inviting me. Sorry I was a trash partner.” Akira chuckled nervously._
> 
> _“You’re not.” Akechi shook his head. "I’ve trained myself on gunplay for our palace jaunts so I’ve gotten rather good at it.”_
> 
> _“I should do that…” Akira thought,” I’ve just been learning game tricks from a kid.” At this admission Akechi stared at Akira for a minute, as if trying to figure out if he was joking, before he broke into a laugh. "What?”_
> 
> _“I just… I picture you learning from a kid and then remember you’re actually our leader.” Akechi admitted. "Ah, I needed that laugh. Have you had dinner?”_


	20. panic! at the high school

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akira and akechi have a lovely little breakfast date where they talk about the future. the team later finds out what happened to haru's dad. following that haru shares her own secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all can thank my husband for this.

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:06am: **glasses kink** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**glasses kink** : any news on the daddy front haru?  
**twink bara** : dude… ur wording  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Not yet. He’s been very reclusive lately though.  
**glasses kink** : well, that just means that something’s taken root.  
**glasses kink** : i’m sure that something will happen soon.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : I hope so.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : I just hope it’s soon.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : Just try to relax Haru.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : Everything will go just as it always has.  
**PrinceType** : Yes. I suggest for now just being a normal student.  
**PrinceType** : Don’t deviate and draw attention.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Yes. Thank you.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

________________________________________________________________

The Sunday of Akechi’s suggested ‘breakfast date’ arrived with no change yet from Haru’s father. So this left them open to relax for a bit longer. Akira started the morning preparing batter and coffee just in time for a knock at the door. Akira made his way around to let Akechi in with a smile,” welcome.” 

“Thank you for having me.” Akechi returned the smile. “The mornings are getting rather cold now, I almost needed a coat to come here.” 

“Well, I’ll warm you up with coffee and pancakes.” Akira promised after he made sure the door was locked once more, he returned to the kitchen to start actually cooking the pancakes now. “I didn’t add anything special to them so I hope just plain ones are okay. I think there are some blueberries in the fridge but I don’t know how long they’ve been there.” 

“Plain is fine. Is there anything I can do to help?” Akechi questioned after setting his briefcase down. 

“Well, can you grind the coffee?” Akira made sure that the pancake had time to cook so he could step away. He grabbed the coffee beans and a hand grinder to set Akechi up with this job. “Just pour some coffee beans in this end, close it up and twist the handle.” Akira pointed at the parts. “Think you can manage that?” 

“I’m not sure. It looks difficult.” Akechi teased as he put the grider together to start on his task. “How much should I grind?”

“Umm, let’s just say each of us drinks two, so four scoops?” Akira tossed Akechi the measuring spoon from across the kitchen as he needed to tend to the pancakes again. While Akira worked on the pancakes Akechi turned the grinder and Akira couldn’t help but smile. Somehow Akira had managed to get Akechi in here to have breakfast with him on a sleepy Sunday with no palace deadline hanging over their heads.

“This is rather nice.” Akechi said after a few minutes where just the sound of cooking and coffee grinding filled the cafe. “Making breakfast with another person isn’t something I’ve ever really experienced before.” 

“What do you normally do for breakfast then?” Akira asked, working another pancake. 

“Usually a power bar or something on my way out the door.” Akechi answered sheepishly. “I don’t really know how to cook. My mother didn’t do it often, so in the end I ended up befriending microwaves and premade meals from convenience stores.” 

“Detective Akechi, I’m going to teach you how to cook so help me God. We’re starting right now.” Akira motioned for Akechi to join him. 

“N-no I’ll ruin the whole batch.” Akechi waved a dismissive hand but Akira moved around him to grab him by the shoulders and guide him to stand in front of the stove. “Kurusu, really. I don’t want to burn the building down.” 

“And everyone calls me dramatic. If they heard you now they’d laugh at you.” Akira told him as he pulled a spare apron out to slip on Akechi. “Pancakes are easy! Kinda, and I think it would be good to know how to make one of your favorite foods.” Akira checked the one he had on before taking it off once it was finished while Akechi gave in and tied the apron into a knot behind him. 

“We’ll start with a fresh one. Use the spoon to add the batter,” Akira took Akechi’s hand to guide it to the bowl and back with the batter,” just the one should be fine to teach you what you’re looking for. We’re going to cook them on medium heat so they don’t burn on the outside before the inside is cooked.” Akira pointed around the edge of the small pancake as he explained. “You’re looking for bubbles around the edges to tell how fast it’s cooking. When it starts to bubble in the middle we flip.” Akira put the spatula in Akechi’s hand. “Give it a go when you think it’s ready.” Akira stepped back to watch now. 

“This is a terrible idea.” Akechi’s lips thinned before he stared hard at the small pancake in front of him. After a minute he checked around the edges Akechi carefully flipped the pancake over. It was a slight bit burned but it didn’t look bad. It would be edible.

“Look at that, I’ll have you making all your own pancakes from now on.” Akira clapped before turning to start the coffee. “Think you can make more?” 

“This isn’t that hard.” Akechi said, almost sounding surprised before he went again leaving Akira to make the coffee instead.

“And you were scared.” Akira teased him.

“I wasn’t scared.” Akechi turned to frown at him before he got a little braver with a larger bit of batter. Silence fell between them again before Akechi spoke again. “Thank you for teaching me.” 

“You’re very welcome.” Akira smiled, finishing the coffee before turning to Akechi. “Think we have enough?” 

“I believe so.” Akechi finished the last of the batter off. “Any extras we can leave for Boss.” 

“Unless I shove them all in my mouth first.” Akira suggested as he took out plates and syrup to set a table. Akechi helped to bring over the pancakes and butter before Akira poured their coffee and they began to eat.

“Hmm, this coffee has an interesting flavor.” Akechi drank first. “Not very acidic, a nice smoothness to it. This is good. Thank you.”

“As long as you like it then it’s money well spent.” Akira adjusted his glasses with a smile then began to eat. “How’s work been?” Akira figured if they were going to be domestic for a little while he was going all in on it.

“It’s coming along. Sae-san was assigned to the Phantom Thief case after Okumura got the calling card. They seem to be taking it more seriously now. So I guess they’re trying to cover their bases.” Akechi paused to eat some. “I heard a rumor they wanted to remove me from the case and put a ‘real’ detective on it but Sae-san fought to keep me on.” Akechi laughed bitterly. “I don’t know how long it’ll keep me on the case but for now I have a place.” 

“You have a place with us too you know?” Akira glanced over his glasses to Akechi. “And for what it’s worth I hope they don’t take you off the case. You might have kind of accidentally found out who we are, and you’re kinda working with us, but that doesn’t change that you’ve got a knack for detective work right? You were suspicious of why Yusuke and I knew one another. I’m sure if you hadn’t stumbled across us you would know who we were by now.” Akira sat back with his coffee. “You’re a good detective. Don’t you have a load of solved cases too?” 

“I do…” Akechi turned his cup as he thought. “Not that I need you to butter me up but… I want to thank you, Kurusu.” 

“Thank me?” Akira repeated. 

“You’ve been an unexpected friend. I find myself thinking about our interactions more and more, and I’m grateful to have met you.” Akechi admitted with a smile. It was one of those smiles that Akira knew was real, not some TV one, it was one of Akira’s favorite smiles. “If you’d told me the first night we met that I’d become a Phantom Thief, no, a leader of the Phantom Thieves, I would have laughed at you. But I think joining with you has given me important insight. It’s made me a better person.” Akira listened as Akechi spoke but as he got near the end of his spiel he started to look a little sad and sound a little like he was resigning himself to something.

“You could put a little less finality in your voice.” Akira teased trying to lighten the mood a little. 

“I just mean that you’re important to me.” At Akechi’s words Akira turned a little red and drank coffee in an attempt to keep his hanahaki out of his throat while Akechi continued. “I’ve actually been thinking about your probation being up in six months and laugh because it doesn’t feel like half a year has already gone by.” 

“You’re right about that.” Akira pushed some of his pancakes around. “I think it feels more like I’ve been here a lifetime. In a good way.” 

“In a good way.” Akechi repeated. “Do you plan to go home in March?” 

“I don’t really have much of a choice.” Akechi shrugged as he settled forward again with his coffee. “Sojiro and I get along really well now, I think he kinda sees me like a son which is nice, but keeping me around after my probation is over is kind of a huge leap. He got paid to take me in. If I stay after… Well, we get a lot of money from shadows. Still confused on how but not complaining.” 

“You said before that your parents don’t want you to come back, didn’t you?” Akechi questioned. 

“I mentioned it,” Akira nodded,” I haven’t heard from them or my brother in a while now. The last note I got from him told me I’d have a place to live still. There’s a textile shop in town where the owner offered to let me live with him when I go back. He looks intense but he’s actually a huge softie.” Akira explained. It felt almost demented to talk about what could happen if he actually outlived his hanahaki. 

“Isn’t it a bit of a hassle to have to change schools for your third year?” Akechi wondered. If Akira knew better he’d almost think that Akechi wanted him to stay around. Honestly Akira was tempted to, if he lived somehow. Well, if he were to live through his disease it would probably mean Akechi accepted him and with it he would have even more reason to stay.

“Probably. Won’t know until I try.” Akira shrugged looking over his coffee to Akechi. Akira had learned Akechi’s expressions by now and he could earlier see that Akechi looked sad at his answer. “Or I can just bribe Sojiro to keep me.” 

“I think everyone would prefer that option.” Akechi chuckled. 

“Oh you too then?” Akira asked. 

“I did say everyone didn’t I?” Akechi laughed through his nose. “Of course I want you to stay as well.” 

“Aww, Detective Goro Akechi-san likes me~” Akira teased, earning a mild glare from Akechi in return

They continued their breakfast date with simple conversation over the rest of their pancakes and coffee before Sojiro came in to open up for the day. Once they cleaned up their mess Akechi bid Akira goodbye.

“So, you still think you’re just going to die?” Morgana looked up at Akira after he came back to his room. “Or are you going to maybe think about something else?”

“I don’t know…” Akira admitted uncomfortably and Morgana’s cocky smile turned into genuine interest,” I’m still pretty scared of the idea that I might die but… I guess I’m hopeful now?” Akira said as he moved to sit on the edge of his bed with Morgana following him. “I’m sure you’re glad to hear that.” 

“I can’t say I’m not. I want you to live. Everyone does! When do you think you’ll say something?” Morgana asked. 

“I didn’t say that I was going to… just that I might.” Akira corrected. “Let’s see how the school festival goes.”

“You are exhausting.” Morgana sighed.

________________________________________________________________

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _6:47am: **BigBootyCarrot** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**BigBootyCarrot** : Something has happened.  
**PrinceType** : What’s wrong?  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Father won’t wake up.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Last night he had arranged for a press conference but this morning when I went to greet him he was still in bed.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : When I tried to wake him he was unresponsive so I called for a doctor.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : When the doctor came to check on him she said that there’s nothing wrong with him but father is in some kind of a coma.  
**PrinceType** : That’s… not right. We did everything the same.  
**PrinceType** : Haru please believe that this shouldn’t have happened.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : I believe you. I’m just worried.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : I’m going to need some time to sort out what is happening.  
**PrinceType** : Of course. We’ll be waiting when you’re ready to talk.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _8:47am: **glasses kink** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**glasses kink** : this was not the thing to wake up to.  
**glasses kink** : please tell us the minute you know anything haru.  
**glasses kink** : did we fuck up somehow?  
**PrinceType** : The shadow returned to him. He was fading out at the end but...  
**twink bara** : but?  
**PrinceType** : An explosion sent smoke everywhere...  
**glasses kink** : you don’t think the palace collapsing killed his shadow do you?  
**twink bara** : shit  
**PrinceType** : I’m not sure. We’ve never had this happen before.  
**sensual strawberries** : should we meet up after school?  
**The Hot Class Prez** : There isn’t much point in that if we don’t have Haru to tell us anything.  
**PrinceType** : Yes, let’s wait for Haru to let us know how she’s doing.  
**glasses kink** : right. everyone else get to school.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _4:33pm: **glasses kink** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**glasses kink** : any word from haru?  
**sensual keystroke** : i’ve tried to contact her but there’s no answer.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : I’ve also had no luck.  
**glasses kink** : shit.  
**PrinceType** : I have worse news.  
**glasses kink:** might as well pile it on.  
**PrinceType** : An apparent calling card was found in the Shujin principal’s office.  
**sensual strawberries** : WAIT. WHAT?  
**The Hot Class Prez:** That’s… not possible.  
**glasses kink:** what the fuck is happening here?  
**sensual keystroke** : this is bad. people are starting to blame us for okumura’s coma. once the calling card at shujin comes out people are going to get really suspicious.  
**PrinceType** : I don’t think I need to impress the importance right now of appearing as normal as possible right? No talking about the Phantom Thieves and behave in class.  
**twink bara:** this is bullshit! we didnt kill anyone!  
**The Hot Class Prez** : Akechi-kun is right though. Please don’t draw attention to yourselves. Let’s wait for Haru to tell us what’s happening with her father.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ HARU OKUMURA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _5:33am: **Haru** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Haru** : I’m sorry for messaging you so early.  
**Akira** : No worries. I’m having one of my sleepless nights. How is your dad?  
**Haru** : Um. Answering that is a bit… I’d like to speak with everyone in person if possible.  
**Akira** : Of course.  
**Haru** : Can we meet later today?  
**Akira** : I’ll make it a priority.  
**Haru** : Thank you.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Once school was over everyone made their way to Leblanc to wait for Haru to arrive. Cold silence filled the room as no one knew what they should say to her, if anything. The important part to take away was that Okumura was alive, but he was in a coma. The question was, how did it happen?

As the group waited a political car drove down the street sharing the speech recorded by some man Akira found familiar but didn’t have enough spoons to really give a shit about. Akechi sneered at the sound of the voice until he faded away. While Ryuji complained that the car was too loud, Akira agreed.

Ryuji continued to complain about the speech car when Haru finally arrived. Ryuji jumped to his feet to greet her,” Hey! How are you?” Ryuji asked. 

“I’ve been better.” Haru admitted almost sounding sad. “I’m sure you’re all wondering how my father is, until last night he was in a stable coma, however this morning…” Haru looked down as she pulled on the end of her sweater,” he passed away due to unforeseen complications.” 

“N-no.” Ann gasped as she stood suddenly. 

“That’s…” Akechi put a hand over his mouth to stop himself from saying more. 

“This isn’t why I called everyone together though.” Haru shook her head then looked up with clear eyes. Akira already admired her. Her father was dead but she didn’t even show a glimmer of tears. “There’s something else that’s worrying me and I wanted to discuss it in person. Did you all target the principal?” 

“No.” Akira answered seriously, meeting her eyes when she looked at him. “Kobayakawa was shady, but we never targeted him. The calling card they found is a fake.” 

“You knew about the calling card?” Haru questioned suspiciously. 

“I told them.” Akechi answered. “I am on the investigation team. When that kind of information comes up I’m one of the first to learn about it. I also got to look at the card itself. It’s a decent fake but when they compare the first card Kamoshida got and the others they’re not really worried about consistency. ” 

“I see…” Haru looked to the floor thoughtfully,” I’m sorry I had to ask. When the police were looking for more clues I heard them talk about the card they found in the principal's office.”

“It’s understandable you’d be worried.” Akechi said. “You’ve only just joined us and despite our promise your father has died. If I were in your shoes, if any of us were, we can understand your suspicions.” 

“Yes.” Haru nodded softly before she let out a sigh. “I don’t believe you’ve killed anyone. I’ve only known you a short time but I trust you.” 

“Thank you Haru.” Makoto smiled. “I’m sorry about your father.” 

“I’ll be alright.” Haru promised. 

“I want to say… this is going way too fast.” Makoto said. “Things aren’t adding up, I think, we’re being set up by the real culprit.” 

“For real?” Ryuji gasped.

“It makes sense,” Akechi frowned and touched his chin,” Kobayakawa was taken out in a way that ties in with mental shutdowns. Then a forged calling card was put in his office, but not until after we sent one to Okumura. The timing is suspicious.” Akechi looked around the room. 

“So you’re saying that the culprit didn’t get sloppy as you previously thought, but instead devised a plan to set us up for murder?” Yusuke surmised. “I hate to admit it but it was tactfully done. We have no way of vindicating ourselves.”

“People online are already calling for us to turn ourselves in.” Futaba spoke as he looked at her phone.

“I want to pose a theory,” Akechi said,” I think that Okumura was killed with less supernatural means. We completed the palace as we always have and though none of us saw his shadow actually return there’s little reason for it to not. The culprit has real world backing and Okumura had to know of someone who would lead us to the source, so it wouldn’t be impossible for someone in the real world to cause him harm.” 

“Our security was on high alert after the calling card was delivered though.” Haru countered. 

“Your father made a clear point that if you grease the right palms anything can happen. It’s possible a security guard was bought off to overlook the tapes when the attack happened. When he went into his coma he went to the hospital as well, correct?” Akechi continued his thoughts.

“He did…” Haru hugged herself. 

“Hospital security might not have been as strong as your own home security. I’m sorry to say but the police aren’t very competent on the best day and as I said, enough money can make anyone look the other ways.” Akechi gave Haru a pitted look. 

“You make a good point.” Haru admitted.

“It’s hard to deny the possibility when you put it that way.” Yusuke frowned. “What do we do now?”

“For now I think we need to go forward being as normal as possible.” Makoto suggested. “We have midterms next week.” 

“Haru are you going to be okay?” Akira questioned as he stood to step closer to her. 

“I will be.” Haru nodded. “I just... I started feeling panicked when I thought that maybe you all had actually killed someone. I’m sorry I thought so.” 

“I don’t blame you,” Akira reached out to touch her shoulder,” like Akechi said, you’re new to our team and this was your first mission. It’s… not a good look for us.” Akira admitted. “We’ll be here for whatever you need, okay?”

“Yes. I know.” Haru tried to smile but it didn’t quite reach her eyes and before she could stop herself she began to cry. She had been so strong, it was a wonder why she hadn’t broken down sooner. Akira really admired her. 

With a sad look Akira pulled Haru into a tight hug before Ann joined him and soon there was just one large Haru hug. After a minute the group let her go so she could catch her breath and clear her eyes,” Thank you everyone.”

“Okay, I need to go look into something I’ve been thinking about for a while. You guys study hard.” Futaba said before she left.

“Wonder what that’s about?” Ryuji raised an eyebrow. “I’m gunna head home.” 

“I’ll go with you.” Yusuke announced before the two of them left as well.

“If it’s alright, could I stay for a little while?” Haru asked, then looked at Akira. “There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.” 

“Sure.” Akira smiled. 

“Well, I’m going to go find out what I can then. I’ll send a text if there any new info I come across.” Akechi announced as he stood. “I’m sorry about your loss Haru… I’ve… lost a parent as well. If you want someone to speak with I’ll lend you an ear.”

“Thank you Akechi-kun.” Haru forced a smile. “Travel safe.” 

After Akechi left everyone else followed after. Morgana decided to give them the private time Haru asked for by saying he was going on the roof to think. Once they were alone Haru sat on the sofa in deep thought. Akira shifted awkwardly from foot to foot unsure what to say. When Haru went an extended time without speaking he tried to get the ball rolling,” What did you need to tell me?” 

“Oh! Sorry.” Haru shook her head. “It’s a little hard to talk about. When I came here I was worried about what I was going to do but I really do believe all of you.” Haru tangled her fingers together. “I realize from talks with Ann and Makoto that you’re not interested in women, are you Akira-kun?”

“I’m… not no. I’m sorry.” Akira played with his bangs. This was awkward. He never had a problem with women liking him before. 

“I understand but,” Haru paused for a long time,” that didn’t really stop a garden from forming.” Haru looked a bit sad as she placed a hand against her chest.

“Wait,” Akira put a hand up, panic raising from the base of his spine all the way up to the back of his neck,” ‘garden’ like… hanahaki?” 

“Yes,” Haru smiled sweetly,” I know there’s no one else it could have formed for.”

This was bad, he didn’t like, LOVE LOVE, Haru. She was the sweetest girl he’d ever met, but it wasn’t the love she needed. Why would she tell him this if she knew? She didn’t deserve what happened to her father, and she didn’t deserve to get stuck with hanahaki for Akira.

“I should explain before you panic too much.” Haru put her hands up as she tried to calm Akira. “It’s my fault for how I worded myself. Please listen okay?” Haru patted the seat next to her until Akira crossed the room to sit next to her. “Since I was little, I’ve had trouble with falling too easily in love with people.” Haru admitted. “My father would just have it removed, but as I got older I began to realize my version of hanahaki is different from most. It isn’t just based on romantic love. My hanahaki is based on the kind of love between friends.

It’s both easier and harder to get those real feelings I think. Because of how it works for me I started to learn the difference between people who wanted to be close to me for my money, or because I was actually a friend to them. So please, don’t worry about not romantically loving me or not. As the situation is now I cannot remove it and forget about you or anyone else, so please…” Haru looked to Akira with a knowing smile. 

“Just… say it?” Akira asked slowly before Haru nodded with a knowing smile. He didn’t like this, if Haru ended up dead on his floor then that was it, he was going to jail and everyone else was screwed. “I’m… kind of seriously scared.”

“That just means your feelings are honest I think.” Haru took his hands. “I won’t let this grow and be a burden on the team, and I never want to forget about you, Akira-kun.”

“Haru…” Akira felt as if she had actually slammed him headfirst into the floor with her words. She was willing to risk her life to get rid of her hanahaki and Akira had been carrying his around for months. It was turning slowly into a larger and larger burden on everyone as it grew and Akira just tried to hide it. “You’re amazing. How the hell are you so strong?”

“I have to be.” Haru answered sweetly. 

Akira stared at her wide eyed for a long time before he pulled Haru into a tight hug. “I love you.” he said with a sigh before Haru pulled away from him just enough to cough up a small yellow rose with thin white roots attached. “Wow… that easy huh? That’s… pretty small?” 

“Yes. I’m familiar with how it feels to have hanahaki. So I know when I have it within at least a week of it seeding.” Haru smiled as she closed her hands over the flower. She looked back at Akira with a knowing smile. “Have you known anyone with hanahaki before?” 

“Y-yeah…” Akira debated telling Haru, out of everyone who knew so far she would be the most reasonable person to tell, right? Would she think him stupid for not telling Akechi already? He chewed his bottom lip before lowering his head to say,” Me.” 

“You--” Haru held a hand up to her mouth in surprise. “Akira-kun, you have hanahaki?” 

“Yeah, and mutation called ficus to go with it.” Akira laughed bitterly. 

Haru gasped once more, her face paling as she now covered her mouth with both hands letting the rose drop. When the look of fear faded a bit from her face she lowered her hands to speak,” Is it for Akechi-kun?” 

“Am I obvious or…?”

“I think a little bit.” Haru nodded. “But even if not, I think out of everyone here, if it had to be someone in our group that is, Akechi-kun makes the most sense.” Haru clapped her hands together softly. “How long has your garden been growing?” 

“Uh… about six months?” Akira answered looking away from Haru again.

“Akira-kun…” Haru gave him a look mixed with pity and disappointment. It was exactly what Akira expected. “Are you scared he’ll reject you?” 

“It started like that.” Akira admitted finally lifting his head. “At this point I’m not really scared of dying, it’s… dying choking on flowers that scares me more. Choking where people will see me.” Akira then explained the aquarium incident to Haru. “So, I just kind of don’t want to put someone else through seeing that.” 

“That does sound rather traumatic.” Haru nodded. “I’ve never nursed a garden for as long as you have, but I can offer you a sympathetic shoulder when you need it.” 

“I should be offering one to you. Your dad…” Akrai didn’t feel right crying to Haru, she was going through so much and she didn’t need to help him on top of it all.

“I lost my father a long time ago,” Haru shook her head,” I just won’t be haunted by his ghost anymore.” 

Akira felt another pull on his heart before he pulled Haru into another hug. They didn’t deserve Haru, honestly, but Akira was more than happy to have her, he was just glad he still had her trust after everything that happened. He would protect her with his life if he had to.

________________________________________________________________

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:54pm: **BigBootyCarrot** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**BigBootyCarrot** : I’m sorry to have worried everyone. Thank you for being patient with me.  
**sensual keystroke** : you can take all the time you need to haru.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : I know. I’ll be alright though.  
**twink bara** : man  
**twink bara** : haru youre majorly strong you know?  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Thank you.  
**sensual strawberries** : so what’s going to happen?  
**BigBootyCarrot** : I have to help arrange for my father’s funeral so I won’t be able to get in contact with you all for a while longer.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : You don’t need to worry about us.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : More importantly, are you okay?  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Yes. I’m more worried about the people at the company to be honest. There’s been problems between the press and clients trying to find out what happened. I’ve been told to remain out of sight until they can figure out what really happened. The police are worried that I might be a target as well.  
**PrinceType** : That is true. There’s been an armed police escort set on Haru in addition to the already existing personal security until they think the danger has passed.  
**glasses kink** : shit.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : I think for now you just need to focus on yourself. Okay?  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Yes. Thank you everyone. I’ll be in contact again when I can. Good luck with exams!  
**glasses kink** : i love you haru please be safe!  
**BigBootyCarrot** : I love you too! 💜  
**sensual keystroke** : I LOVE YOU TOO HARU!!!!!!!!!!!!  
**sensual strawberries** : can we say we all love haru? I love you haru.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Thank you everyone. 💜  
**glasses kink** : we’re normalizing telling our friends we love them right here.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : 💜💜💜💜💜💜  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Exams kept the party busy for the following week. Akira could barely focus on the test in front of him and wouldn’t be all that surprised if he ended up bottom of the class thanks to everything happening, Kawakami was going to kill him. 

The thing that really ruined Akira’s mood each day was someone else claiming that the Phantom Thieves were murderers. At least with being as distracted as he was, Akira wasn’t able to think of the garden in his chest. At least when he was around people. He was getting less and less sleep now. He doubled his medication to try keeping it in control after his coughing fits began to become more frequent. He’d just start wearing a mask if it got too bad.

By the end of the week the Phantom Thieves support on the site hit a new low and everyone was on edge. On the final day of exams Futaba called for a meeting at Leblanc to talk about what she had found out. She began by explaining that the Medjed she had exposed during the summer wasn’t the ‘real’ one.

At first everyone was lost as she tried to explain how coding was like a finger print and each person’s was unique. When it didn’t hit she led into the fact that the code she found from the Medjed user wasn’t code a cracker would use.

“So someone was using generic stolen code to try and lure us out,” Ann questioned,” or they were trying to get a reaction so they could get in on the hype? We were starting to get popular.” 

“I think it’s more likely that it was intended to make us _more_ popular.” Makoto said after some thought. “I think someone’s been playing us from the start. They wanted us to become popular.”

“Uhhhhh, not for nothing but that makes zero sense.” Ryuji complained. “Why would someone do that?” 

“I want to say, I was thinking the same as Makoto,” Futaba adjusted her glasses,” I just said that codes are like fingerprints right? Well, I found more of that hodgepodge code in another place.” Futaba paused for a seemingly dramatic effect but it was to look around the room to make sure everyone was looking at her and following her words. “I found it on the Phan-Site Nishima runs. From what I could find someone was tampering with the site from outside it’s normal domain. It actually began to manipulate the approval poll so hive mentality kicked in and more people began to agree with it. Then when the rankings poll showed up, it manipulated the numbers to put Okumura right at the top.”

“So someone tampered with the site in hope of goading us on to target my father? And these same people provoked the group with a false threat in the form of Medjed?” Haru questioned.

“Yes.” Futaba nodded. 

“So that means not only were we forced into the public space, but our targeting Okumura was influenced from the outside.” Akechi mumbled. “There’s no way this person would have known we were also going by Sae-san’s research, but it all lined up.” 

“It’s possible that this person is working with the police.” Makoto suggested. “In that case Sis would have every reason to follow the same breadcrumbs we have been. Right into a trap.” 

“Hey, let’s take a step back,” Ryuji waved a hand,” we’ve gotta be overthinkin’ things right? This is way too much to take on coincidence.” 

“Perhaps,” Akechi hummed,” but my detective’s intuition is leaning heavily into agreeing with what we have right in front of us.”

“Ryuji is right though,” Yusuke spoke next,” we can’t get anxious over speculation. Right now we need to focus on what is presently happening, the false charge of not one but two murders. We have to overcome this.” 

“Shit do you think we’re falling into another trap? Even at this very moment?” Ryuji was starting to panic.

“Ryuji, calm down.” Akira touched his shoulder. “We haven’t lost yet. Even if we are being led around we’re aware of it now. We’ll get back at whoever is doing this.” 

“R-right.” Ryuji’s leg began to bounce nervously. 

“Let’s refocus on gathering what clues we can.” Makoto looked around the room. “Don’t get reckless.” 

________________________________________________________________

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:06pm: **The Hot Class Prez** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**The Hot Class Prez** : I really wish I could give some good news this time but…  
**PrinceType** : Sae-san is looking at Shujin for the Phantom Thieves.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : Yes.  
**twink bara** : FOR REAL?!  
**glasses kink** : not to sound callous but weren’t they already doing that?  
**The Hot Class Prez** : Yes, but it was in secret. Now that the Phantom Thieves have ‘killed people’ it’s very public that the police are investigating.  
**PrinceType** : Correct. This operation is on a much larger scale and the SIU director has given Sae-san access to a substantial number of resources.  
**sensual keystroke** : This is bad.  
**twink bara** : whats SIU?  
**The Hot Class Prez** : Special Investigations Unit.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : They’re the ones that get brought in on huge cases like government scandals.  
**PrinceType** : Or in this case, national murderers.  
**sensual keystroke** : the real insane part here is that these guys haven’t lost a case against a suspect in like fifty years.  
**sensual keystroke** : basically once you’re in their sights you’re toast.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Are we going to be arrested…?  
**glasses kink** : We don’t know that. We don’t know who they’ve been looking at.  
**PrinceType** : I’ll be honest, if I were on the outside of the team looking on at you, you’d be the most obvious choice.  
**glasses kink** : I know. We magically pick up everyone who’s been involved in some kind of Phantom Thief scenario.  
**glasses kink** : And whatever lies we can make up for it won’t be enough to put all of that suspicion behind us.  
**PrinceType** : Exactly.  
**PrinceType** : It’s too late now to pretend you don’t know one another.  
**PrinceType** : The best option you have is to lay low. You’re right that the SIU won’t care what story you tell to excuse why all of you are friends, but you should still come up with something anyway.  
**glasses kink:** I’m open to suggestions.  
**sensual strawberries** : an emotional support group for people recovering after the phantom thieves did things to adults in their lives?  
**twink bara** : that is way too complicated  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : Everyone is my muse in a large collage.  
**glasses kink** : ok but then you have to actually have something drawing.  
**glasses kink** : also are you back into nude yet?  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : … no.  
**glasses kink** : he is.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : We could claim to be a gardening club.  
**glasses kink** : and i brought in my two outside shujin friends to participate because yusuke needs free food and akechi needs a new hobby that isn’t consuming his body weight in coffee.  
**PrinceType** : I do hope you’re taking this seriously.  
**glasses kink** : I am, but unless you have a better idea we have to spitball with shit that sounds dumb but potentalliy workable.  
**PrinceType** : That’s fair.  
**glasses kink** : I also suggest that I just… go with what we already have? I made friends with Ryuji because we’re both kinda out casty, Ryuji knew Ann, and then Ann is like ‘hey i’m gay too new gbf.’ I answered a model request for Yusuke. Makoto was keeping an eye on me because I’m a ‘trouble student’ but then she was woo’d by my amazing charm. Akechi and I have known one another for ages because he frequents the cafe, Futaba is Boss’ daughter. Then finally we made friends with Haru because she gardens on the roof where we often hang out because fuck the rules. No one is going to question my cryptid disguised as a cat.  
**sensual keystroke** : he really is a cryptid isn’t he?  
**twink bara** : well hes not a cat so if the shoe fits  
**The Hot Class Prez** : Akira might have an idea there. We all came into his life in a natural kind of way so it could be how we explain things. And without proof of the Metaverse they can’t exactly pin us with the Phantom Thieves.  
**PrinceType** : I wouldn’t discount the resources the SIU has at their disposal.  
**PrinceType** : But it’s not a terrible plan. Just act normal.  
**glasses kink:** time to put on my het-boy plants. ann be my gf.  
**sensual strawberries** : okay!  
**sensual keystroke** : plants.  
**glasses kink** : 🌵  
**glasses kink** : 👖  
**sensual strawberries** : adslkjhsdgkjlh  
**glasses kink** : now that i’ve defused some of the tension i’m going to do my homework.  
**sensual strawberries:** thank you.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The following day...

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _12:03pm: **The Hot Class Prez** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**The Hot Class Prez** : I feel like a harbinger of doom everytime I start the chat these days.  
**sensual keystroke** : hold on.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _12:04pm: **sensual keystroke** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**sensual keystroke** : ˚✧₊⁎( ˘ω˘ )⁎⁺˳✧༚  
**The Hot Class Prez** : Thank you Futaba.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : It sadly doesn’t change what I have to say, the police are questioning individual students today.  
**twink bara** : for real?  
**glasses kink** : people have been talking about them being here all day.  
**twink bara** : i knew that  
**twink bara** : i just didnt know they were questioning students  
**sensual strawberries** : holy fuck are they onto us?  
**PrinceType** : Stop panicking.  
**PrinceType** : They have to talk to everyone in case they missed any vital clues before.  
**PrinceType** : As we said last night the police were conducting a private investigation into the Phantom Thieves. Now that it’s publicly being looked into they can go back over clues and question more witnesses than before.  
**glasses kink** : i love talking to cops…  
**glasses kink** : not.  
**The Hot Class Prez:** Just don’t stress out about it.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : There aren’t any police at my school.  
**PrinceType** : And there shouldn’t be. They have no reason to actually suspect any of us as of right now. The only one who might be in the suspect pool is Kurusu based solely on the fact he has a record.  
**twink bara** : thats bullshit!  
**The Hot Class Prez** : It is, but Akechi-kun has a point. Just don’t say anything extra to the police when you’re being questioned.  
**sensual strawberries** : i hope they don’t ask anything too direct… i know my acting is lousy.  
**twink bara** : she admits it holy fuck  
**glasses kink** : i believe in you, ann my beautiful gf whom i love so much.  
**sensual strawberries** : akira i want you to know you’re the only guy i’ll ever fake-date.  
**glasses kink** : i have to admit i’ve also fake-dated makoto.  
**sensual strawberries** : we’re the poly thieves of hearts now.  
**sensual keystroke:** fuck yeah!  
**BigBootyCarrot** : I support this!  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : I can feel the love in this chat.  
**PrinceType** : Well, I guess telling you not to panic is fine. Any tension in chat is gone.  
**glasses kink** : i’m a master of dissolving tension.  
**twink bara** : what about the tension in my shoulders?  
**glasses kink** : let my magic fingers do their work.  
**twink bara** : aw yeah  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _2:04pm: **glasses kink** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**glasses kink** : holy fucking shit they went right to asking about knowing yusuke, haru, and akechi.  
**PrinceType** : Stop panicking.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist** : My name came up?  
**sensual strawberries** : yeah. it was weird.  
**glasses kink** : guys i’m maybe actually worried about what’s going on here.  
**glasses kink** : are we fucked?  
**PrinceType** : Stop panicking.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : I’m sorry about all of this. It’s because my sister…  
**BigBootyCarrot** : That’s not true Mako-chan.  
**glasses kink** : i’m going to maybe actually throw up a little.  
**PrinceType** : STOP. PANCKINING.  
**PrinceType** : They have to connect all of your acquaintances. You have a timeline of how you met, and it’s a reasonable tale. If you keep freaking out you’re going to draw a lot of attention to yourself and in turn the rest of us. Just breathe.  
**glasses kink** : breathing isn’t my strong suit…  
**PrinceType** : …?  
**glasses kink** : I’M SORRY. MORBID HUMOR IS HOW I COPE.  
**PrinceType** : ?  
**glasses kink** : nvm  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** 💐SECRETS ARE HARD💐 ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _2:14pm:_ **Akira __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

_**{** 2:14pm: **Haru Okumura** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _2:14pm: **Haru Okumura** has joined the thread **}**_

**Akira** : i’m going to walk into mementos and let the first disaster shadow i see blow me the fuck up. bye guys.  
**Haru** : What is this?  
**Akira** : this is the group where everyone knows i have hanahaki for akechi and i’m too chicken to do anything about it.  
**Akira** : also that yusuke and i had sex once.  
**Haru** : 😳  
**Yusuke** : What happened?  
**Akira** : in regards to which thing here?  
**Yusuke** : Haru.  
**Akira** : uhhhh  
**Haru** : I am also able to contact hanahaki though mine is healed by just reciprocated feelings in terms of friendship.  
**Haru** : I had a garden for Akira and after I spit mine out he told me of his.  
**Futaba** : at this point only ann, makoto, and akechi don’t know.  
**Ryuji** : uhhhhhhhhh  
**Akira** : what?  
**Ryuji** : please dont kill me  
**Akira** : you… fucking… told ann and makoto….didn’t you?  
**Ryuji** : NO JUST ANN SHE WAS WORRIED IN HAWAII OKAY?  
**Akira** : fuck it.  
**Akira** : FUCK. IT.  


_**{** 2:16pm: **Ann Takamaki** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _2:16pm: **Ann Takamaki** has joined the thread **}**_

**_{_ ** _2:16pm: **Makoto Niijima** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _2:16pm: **Makoto Niijima** has joined the thread **}**_

**Makoto** : What is going on?  
**Ann** : secrets?  
**Akira** : i am tired.  
**Yusuke** : Are you going to be alright?  
**Akira** : i’m walking into mementos for the exploding shadow as we speak.  
**Ann** : ????????????????????  
**Akira** : Makoto I’m sorry you’re the last to know, i have hanahaki for akechi.  
**Makoto** : ?!  
**Akira** : it is killing me and i’m too scared to tell him and i can’t get it removed because i have a special hanahaki called ficus that roots into my lungs in such a way that it’s impossible to remove.  
**Akira** : also yusuke and i fucked.  
**Ann** : wAIT WHAT?  
**Ryuji** : i didnt tell her that part  
**Akira** : i am tired.  
**Makoto** : I… I had no idea.  
**Makoto** : So the lung infection?  
**Akira** : bullshit made up by my doctor.  
**Makoto** : Suddenly all the times you broke into a coughing fit out of nowhere makes sense.  
**Akira** : cool. everyone’s up to speed, except akechi.  
**Haru** : Are you sure that you won’t tell him?  
**Akira** : right now? absolutely not.  
**Makoto** : I probably shouldn’t agree but… it’s not a good time to try that.  
**Akira** : finally someone is on my side.  
**Makoto** : I’m only saying this right now because of the situation we’re currently in. Do you have a timeline on your death bloom?  
**Akira** : yes.  
**Makoto** : And?  
**Akira** : yes.  
**Makoto** : Akira…  
**Akira** : yes.  
**Ann** : morgana just told me late november early december.  
**Akira** : traitor.  
**Makoto** : That’s not a lot of time. How long have your had this?  
**Akira** : a while.  
**Yusuke** : I was there when the first petal came up in early June. He’s probably actually had it much longer.  
**Makoto** : Well, I can understand being worried about dying.  
**Akira** : it’s fine.  
**Akira** : it’s not like shoving everyone into this chat but the man himself is like a sign of the end.  
**Akira** : when i die akechi can just take over and yeah...stuff.  
**Yusuke** : …  
**Ryuji** : do you see what weve had to deal with?  
**Ann** : you weren’t kidding.  
**Akira** : hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ok i’m done today.  
**Akira** : Don’t talk to me.  
**Akira** : I need to decompress.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** MAKOTO NIIJIMA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _2:45pm: **Makoto** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Makoto** : I realize you said you were done today, but I’ve put you and the others on the school’s festival planning committee so we can still meet up without drawing suspicion.  
**Makoto** : I have everyone’s agreement that we won’t talk about your hanahaki for the time being.  
**Makoto** : I hope you can meet us in the Student Council Room tomorrow.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ RYUJI SAKAMOTO _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _5:18pm: **Ryuji** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji** : hey bro  
**Ryuji** : im sorry i told ann  
**Ryuji** : but it was hard to keep it from her with how you were in hawaii  
**Ryuji** : i hope youll forgive me  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ GORO AKECHI _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _6:02pm: **Goro** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Goro** : Do you have time tonight?  
**Goro** : I thought maybe you’d like to join me for a jazz night.  
**Akira** : I’m staying in tonight. Sorry.  
**Goro** : You don’t have to apologize.  
**Goro** : Another time perhaps.  
**Akira** : Yeah.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira refused to speak with anyone for the rest of the night. He was metnally worn down and just needed some time to himself. Even when Morgana tried to speak with him Akira just put headphones on and did studying instead. He didn’t want to yell at anyone. The best thing he could do for himself and everyone else was to just remove himself from the situation for at least one night. Tomorrow he’d be back to normal. He hoped at least.

_________________________________________________________

The following day Akira still had not reached out to talk to anyone. He sat in class staring off into the distance not paying nearly enough attention to answer the teacher’s question. It was an odd occurrence for him, he usually had the right answers, and now people were mumbling that maybe it was because he was distracted by something else.

Akira cleared his throat trying to ignore everything else that was mumbled before Makoto messaged to tell them they’d be counting ballots for the guest of honor. At least that was easy to do, it was just names. Akira put his phone away without answering to put a little more focus on the lesson so he wouldn’t get caught up again. When the afternoon came he quietly followed Ann to the council room where Makoto and Haru were already waiting for them.

“Good, you came.” Makoto smiled. “Let’s count the ballots?” She picked up the box on the table to give it a light shake. 

“I love reading names.” Akira said dryly, letting Morgana free on the table as Makoto opened the box to spill the papers out. Ryuji joined them shortly after they started and so the group began to count names out. “You have to be kidding me.” Akira frowned. Most of the names on the papers were Akechi.

“Are yours all Akechi-kun’s as well?” Haru asked, trying to catch sight of the names from her seat. 

“Mine are.” Ann answered as she waved a few slips around. “Looks like this is going to be a landslide.”

“Yes, judging from what I have as well that seems to be the case.” Makoto nodded. “People are starting to wonder what his thoughts are on the Phantom Thieves now that we’ve been branded murderers.” 

“For real?” Ryuji sat up to look at Makoto’s spreadsheet. “Can’t we just lie and say someone else won? We see him every day. Let’s just pick an idol and be done with it.” 

“Even if I were willing to do that, the count in favor of Akechi-kun is too high. People would realize we lied.” Makoto shook her head. “Then they would question why we didn’t want a detective prowling around the school.”

“By the way, how is Futaba-chan doing?” Haru questioned Akira. 

“Huh?” 

“She seemed like she was looking into something on her own. Has she told you anything?” Haru tipped her head to one side. 

“No?” Akira was confused now. What was Futaba doing? They’d already figured out the Medjed thing, or not actually. “Maybe she’s trying to figure out who the patchwork Medjed is.”

“Oh, that makes sense I guess.” Haru tapped her lip. 

“Yeah.” Ryuji sat back with his phone again. “I mean, if she can find out who then we’ll know who the culprit is right?” 

“Right.” Akira agreed. That made sense. “So. We’re asking Akechi?” 

“Looks that way.” Makoto sighed then looked to Akira. “Can we leave it to you? You see him more often than any of us. I don’t mean to suggest it as a set up. I really do mean what I said.” 

“I mean, we have phones, but yeah I can do it I guess.” Akira shrugged, gathering up the papers to throw them out now that they were done. After a moment he let out a sigh. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s understandable why you’re on edge.” Makoto offered a smile. “I can’t begin to understand how it feels to have your life in the hands of another person and that hinging on feelings of love.” 

“I still shouldn’t be so pissy with everyone.” Akira ran a hand through his hair before he let out a sigh. “I’ll text him to see if he’ll come by Leblanc and I’ll ask him in person. He tried to get me to hang out last night but… well… I didn’t want to.”

“Okay. Let us know how it goes okay?” Makoto smiled.

“Sure.” Akira stood with his bag before waiting for Morgana who didn’t move yet. “Mona?” 

“I’m going to go home with Haru.” Morgana sat down. “I’ll give you a proper night alone.” 

“You don’t have to.” Akira felt bad now and it showed on his face. “I’m sorry about last night--”

“I’m not upset or anything! If it helps just think of it being me giving you a chance to really confess.” Morgana teased making Akira frown. “I’m kidding! I just realized that sometimes you need some time alone so I wanted to give you that.” Morgana walked over to paw at Akira. “Have a good night okay?” Akira couldn’t argue with Morgana so he put his bag on his shoulder and made his way home. 

_____________________________________

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _5:22pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : are you free tonight?  


After sending his message off to Akechi, Akira began to help Sojiro with the shop. As he worked, Sojiro put on the news where a spotlight interview with Akechi came on the air. He defended that the Phantom Thieves didn’t kill anyone and that they should be looking for other suspects for the deaths. Akira started to worry about what he was saying. They needed to lay low but Akechi was on TV defending them, that was way too much. What was he thinking? After the interview was over it was said Akechi was going to be limiting media appearances.

“People really are getting wound up over these Phantom Thieves.” Sojiro commented. “Things are getting pretty serious with them huh?” 

“I guess so.” Akira shrugged trying to seem indifferent. “They supposedly killed people… Do you believe that?” Akira paused washing dishes to look at Sojiro.

“Those guys changing hearts, right?” Sojiro hummed. “I don’t know. I haven’t been following the news all that closely.” Sojiro thought about it for a minute. “I think they probably didn’t kill anyone. Maybe I just think that because that Akechi kid always comes in here and he’s on TV defending them. Call it customer bias.” Sojiro gave a heavy shrug.

“Right.” Akira nodded before his phone buzzed. He quickly dried his hands before checking for messages.

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**Goro _{_** _7:02pm **}**_ : Sorry for the late reply. I’m free now.  
**Akira** : no problem. do you want to swing by leblanc or should i meet you somewhere?  
**Goro** : Can you meet me at the arcade in Kichijoji?  
**Akira** : arcade?  
**Goro** : It’s actually a bit tucked away. Hm. How about I meet you outside of Penguin Sniper and we go together?  
**Akira** : sure. i’ll be there soon.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira wrapped up his work with Sojiro before promising to be home before it got too late. Once he was free Akira quickly made his way to meet with Akechi at their usual hangout on days when they didn’t have Phantom Thieves work tying them down.

“Hey,” Akira greeted Akechi once he got close enough. 

“No Morgana today?” Akechi motioned to Akira’s bare shoulder. 

“He decided to hang out with Haru a little. Probably to comfort her after what happened.” Akira shrugged. “You wanted to go to an arcade?” 

“Yes. I have a little steam to blow off and thought some video game violence might help.” Akechi smiled sweetly despite his words making Akira feel things he wasn’t sure he should. The pair of them made their way to a tucked away arcade where Akechi paid for them to play a shooter game not unlike the game he played with Shinya. 

“Care to tell me what’s got you steamed?” Akira asked trying to be a helpful shooting partner but finding he was actually horrible at these games still. Shinya really tried with him but he was still just SO BAD at them. 

“People pressing me for my opinions on the Phantom Thieves now, only _after_ they’ve been labeled as murderers.” Akechi answered almost blankly as he covered Akira from one foe. “It’s a wonderful feeling to only be taken seriously after the group has been branded killers. Not before when I was trying to offer useful notes about them or warning people not to rely on them so much.”

“That can’t be easy to deal with.” Akira frowned looking over to Akechi to find that he was very focused on the screen in front of them. Someone behind Akira mentioned something about Akechi not wasting a shot and even keeping Akira alive which Akira had to admit was an impressive feat. Akira played this game similarly to how he was living life right now, basically running headfirst into death.

After an hour of just playing the game Akechi finally decided that it was enough. He put the controller back in it’s slot before flexing his hand a few times,” well, that was rather fun. My hand will be sore tomorrow.” 

“Thanks for inviting me. Sorry, I was a trash partner.” Akira chuckled nervously. 

“You’re not trash.” Akechi shook his head. “I’ve trained myself on gunplay for our palace jaunts so I’ve gotten rather good at it. I probably put too much time into it to be honest.” 

“I should do that…” Akira thought,” I’ve just been learning gun tricks from a kid via games like this one.” At this admission Akechi stared at Akira for a minute, as if trying to figure out if he was joking, before he broke into a laugh. “What?” 

“I just-- I picture you learning from a kid and then remember you’re actually our leader.” Akechi admitted as his giggle tapered off. “Ah, I needed that laugh. Have you had dinner?” 

“Not yet.” 

“Let me buy then.” Akechi began to lead them out.

“You paid for the games, I can buy dinner.” Akira shook his head. 

“I dragged you into it. Don’t worry about it.” Akechi insisted. Akira decided not to argue further than that as Akechi took them to a restaurant he hadn’t been to yet. Once they were seated and their orders placed, Akechi spoke again,” so you wanted to meet with me right? Was it just to hang out or was there something you needed?” 

“Can it be both?” Akira joked. “Our school festival is coming up, and guess who the student body wants as our guest of honor?” 

“Hm. From the lead up you’ve given me I’m going to guess that it’s me.” Akechi smiled as Akira confirmed his suspicion. “ I did just announce that I’ll be limiting my public appearances but since it’s _you_ asking I’ll accept.”

“Just for me? I’m flattered.” Akira couldn’t help the little flutter his heart actually did feel. At least it didn’t set off his hanahaki.

“When is the festival?” Akechi asked to which Akira answered the twenty-fifth. “A Tuesday? Odd, but I guess your school has been through a lot lately so it doesn’t surprise me that things are a bit disorganized.” Akechi hummed as he typed into his phone.

“Yeah. It’s been loads of fun between the cops being there and...uhmmm... the cops still being there.” Akira said dryly as he stirred his straw in his water. “So why not have a detective as a speaker as well?” 

“I could decline if you want.” Akechi raised an eyebrow. 

“Please don’t.” Akira put a hand up quickly. “I was just trying to make a bad joke. You’re the only member of the police department I can stand at this point.” Akira shook his head then sighed. “I’ve just been salty lately.” 

“I’ve noticed you seem a bit sassier than normal. Is everything alright with you?” Akechi asked.

“I guess I’m feeling pretty useless still after getting benched for the last palace.” Akira lied. He knew very well that it was his mortality creeping up on him that made him nervous. Maybe if the group wasn’t in a current state of panic he might actually do what everyone else wanted and trust Akechi with his life, but he didn’t want to do that now. First, if he died Akira was trusting Akechi to keep everyone together, second, if Akira died because of rejection they’d probably blame Akechi for not being accepting. It was a really tricky situation to be in for sure.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll be fine for the next.” Akechi tired his coffee before pausing as their food arrived. 

Once the waitress was gone Akira spoke,” you’re looking at us doing another palace with things like they are?” 

“I think the best way to prove that we didn’t kill anyone is to change the heart of someone close to the investigation.” Akechi explained. “I want to speak with everyone about this in person but I wanted your opinion on the matter before I brought it up.” 

“Who did you have in mind?” Akira asked. 

“Well, as bold as it is to say considering who our teammates are, Sae Niijima.” Akechi answered, earning a look of alarm from Akira. “I know that Makoto-chan may disagree, however she hasn’t seen Sae-san work. Her sister isn’t below making up a confession to get results and the pressure on her from the higher ups is immense.”

“You’re sure she even has a palace?” Akira questioned. 

“I’ve checked her name against the Nav. She has one alright.” Akechi looked a bit sad about it,” I’m not sure of her distortion, but I do know that the location is the courthouse.” Akechi leaned back to cross his arms as he spoke. “She hasn’t shared any of her casework with me as of late and I have concerns that she’s doing that because she suspects you and knows we’re close. She might think that I will do whatever I can to keep you from getting arrested if I were to learn what she knows.”

“Why me?” Akira felt dread build in his stomach. 

“My guess is because of the timing of your arrival with Kamoshida’s confession. Then everyone around you. I know you’ve come up with reasons why you’re close but like I said before, they’ll ignore anything that doesn’t meet with their investigation ideals.” Akechi explained. “So even with no hard proof Sae-san will make something up to convict you. My plan is to change Sae-san’s heart in order to keep her from fabricating evidence against you or anyone else.”

“Change her heart to make her an honest prosecutor.” Akira summed up what Akechi’s plan was.

“That’s right.” Akechi agreed. 

“It might be our best bet.” Akira played with his nags. “Do you know when they’re going to actually make a move?” 

“November twentieth.” Akechi answered. “They’re building the case now, but her deadline to provide results is the nineteenth. After presenting her case they’ll move to arrest on the twentieth.” 

“Still a month away.” Akira muttered. Maybe he’d just be dead by then and they can skip past it. “ If you think this is the best thing to do, then we don’t have much of a choice. I’ll just have to keep on my toes.”

“Truely.” Akechi agreed. “Let’s have everyone enjoy their festival before I bring up this plan. I don’t want to cause Makoto-chan too much stress.”

“Yeah.” Akira agreed then began to eat. The food was good but it didn’t stop it from sitting heavily in his stomach. If Akechi was telling the truth then they needed to change Sae’s heart before it was too late. Akira could distract his impending death with putting his everything behind changing her heart to keep the rest of the team safe. He had his priorities. That’s what he had to tell himself. 

Everyone else mattered more than just himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: should i update again today?  
> Cutie Husbando: y  
> Me: ok  
> Cutie Husbando: Tell your fans I love them  
> Me: i will
> 
> so, you guys can thank my husband for this early AF update. breakfast date was cute right? i wanted to teach akechi how to cook a little. i like to think that he's actually unable to do it until akira sits there with a spatula to show him how it's done. akira then gets REAL close to remembering why he knew about the pancake thing to start with. too bad he's a dumb disaster gay. akechi's not worried about that, he's more concerned about the idea of akira leaving tokyo and just wants him to stay. is it bc he's gunna kill him or kiss him? we just don't know.
> 
> breakfast date aside, you can see where i started to kill canon a lil here. haru's dad did not die right away. i wanted to do something different with this bc akechi might actually care about his friends more than revenge? who knows. ( i do ) he might just be fucking around. or maybe he had nothing to do with it at all. :Oc 
> 
> now then, I gave haru hanahaki. but haru's hanahaki is different bc i wanted to show variations to it. it's more interesting imo. just having the same thing all the time just isn't realistic. Not that hanahaki itself is realistic to begin with. right? lol so we have haru is friendship hanahaki ( which is arguably more dangerous ) but it can be removed, and akira here with ficus rooting his flowers in night and snug. following putting haru into the hanahaki chat ryuji's fuck up is made known. to be fair to him he just wanted ann to not panic as much, but it actually made things a lot worse that trip. they did keep it from makoto tho. poor girl.
> 
> around the end of the chapter here you can see me trying to actually go along with what happens in akechi's confidant ranks. like the video game playing. i'm trying to do a natual progressing toward sae's palace via akechi. i think it's working out. next chapter is also over 10k so look forward to that treat. for now i'll leave you with a preview and go. it's not a great preview but... drama....
> 
> preview:  
>  _ **{The chat thread has been closed.}**_  
>  _ **{Akira’s account has been temporarily suspended.}**_


	21. attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akechi sneaks into the school in disguise to hang out with akira for the day without getting swarmed by fans. the following day things change in a way akira doesn’t understand. why is this happening?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> strap in lads this is a wild one.

The days following Akechi’s agreement to speak at the school left the group busy actually preparing for the festival. Their class didn’t do anything too special and honestly Akira couldn’t blame them. A lot of people had lost their interest in doing anything elaborate when Mishima requested a maid theme only for Kawakami to seethe at him. Everyone was a bit worried about their ideas being shot down so they just shut up, painted some posters, and made a weird cafe thing with takoyaki. 

When the first day of the festival came the most of the team met up right inside the school to explore the different classes. The only one that didn’t meet with them in that afternoon was Akechi as he excused himself because he had a little work he needed to do first but promised to show up for a bit of first day fun. He said he needed to work out a disguise so that he could enjoy the festival a little before having to be himself.

They started the festival with a stop at Akira and Ann’s class where one student stood at the order window in a maid costume. Akira had to wonder if Yuuki got that approved somehow or if maybe Kawakami had no knowledge of it. After they sat down the air around them shifted into something tense. There was no one around them so it wouldn’t be too dangerous to talk about their situation as a whole here. Akira just wished that they wouldn’t. They needed a day to step back from it, seriously.

After trying to order a few different out of stock takoyaki they settled on something called a ‘Russian takoyaki’ which sounded a little questionable. Once the maid was gone everyone launched into talking about the rumors they had heard on their way up to the gable. Akira listened, letting everyone get their frustrations out.

This attention on the topic only piqued when Ryuji bitterly talked about Akechi’s popularity being at an all time high. Sure Akechi had been careful with how he’d spoken about the Thieves in the past. He never directly sided with them in the media and persisted that they were a dangerous group. Now that the Phantom Thieves were murderers everyone was praising Akechi for sticking to his guns, even if he was trying to _pretend_ that the Thieves didn’t commit murder.

“You know what would suck? If we ended up getting made a bigger joke because of him.” Ryuji groaned.

“Ryuji.” Ann shot him a glare. “That’s not why we’re here today.” 

“He’s taken himself out of the media spotlight for a while to probably stop himself from speaking too much about how we didn’t kill anyone.” Akira leaned back in his seat. “He doesn’t want to give himself away, and I don’t blame him.” 

“Right.” Makoto agreed.

“Makes sense.” Futaba adjusted her glasses a little.

“What?” Akira looked around the group. Something was wrong. He was being agreed with too easily and something about the mood of the group made him uncomfortable. 

“Nothing.” Haru spoke next with a smile and it did nothing to help Akira’s mounting suspicion that something was going on and he wasn’t being told. Were they planning on setting him up somehow?

“Is the takoyaki ready yet?” Yusuke looked back toward the classroom. As if by fate they heard the ding of a bell before the maid came back out to deliver their takoyaki. After a little exchange with why the takoyaki was called Russian everyone looked at the blazing red one sitting on the top.

“Do you think… it’s spicy?” Futaba wondered. 

“I don’t do spicy…” Ryuji frowned. 

“You don’t drink coffee either. What are you a kid?” Ann teased. 

“It’s so red I feel like it would burn a hole through my stomach if I ate it.” Akira leaned back away from it. 

“Do you think it’s affected the rest?” Haru wondered. “I’ll take the special one if none of you will.” 

“Haru wait, we don’t want you to collapse.” Makoto took one of Haru’s hands in an effort to stop her.

“I finally found you all.” Akechi’s voice came from behind Yusuke before he approached. He didn’t look like his normal self however. His clothes were as casual as Akira’s ever seen him wear, a big red hoodie with white pants and red boots, with a black hat that read HERO on it. 

“What… the hell are you wearing?” Ryuji questioned. 

“I’d be found out in a second if I came in my usual attire so I decided to dress a bit more casually to avoid too many people stopping me for a photograph.” Akechi answered. “Are you all about to eat?” 

“Yeah, why don’t you have the first one?” Futaba offered with a vicious grin. Maybe Akira had been over thinking things after all, this was normal.

“Really?” Akechi questioned but when no one objected Akechi picked up the red takoyaki to put it in his mouth and eat it without question. In one bite the takoyaki was gone and everyone sat around waiting for a reaction. 

“Are you… ok--” Akira started to ask when Akechi didn’t move for a few seconds then all at once he made a strained groaning sound and covered his mouth,” --ay. I think it was spicy guys.” Akira mentioned as Akechi tapped his chest to probably get the takoyaki to go down. 

“It’s…” Akechi cleared his throat a little,” a little spicy.” He was struggling so much with his words that Akira was certain that it wasn’t just a little spicy. It was VERY spicy. 

“Do you need water?” Ann asked in a panic. 

“I-I’m fine!” Akechi forced himself to stand up straight. “I love spicy- spicy stuff. It’s very g-good.” Akechi was clearly lying. He had to be disappointed with that performance. “I--I’ll be b-bad. B-B-back.” Akechi excused himself to walk quickly toward the nearest bathroom. 

“I think it broke him. Did you hear the verbal typo?” Futaba giggled. 

“I’m… going to check on him.” Akira stood to follow Akechi into the bathroom. When he finally caught up to him he heard the poor detective throwing up the takoyaki he had just consumed. Akira in all his coolness leaned against the bathroom sink to wait for Akechi to emerge looking miserable and pale holding his hat rather than wearing it. “So, you love spicy stuff huh? Guess I’ll make you extra spicy curry next time you come by Leblanc.” 

“N-no please don’t.” Akechi shook his head with a sour look on his face. “I don’t think I’ve ever had something that spicy before. I feel like that needed to come with a warning.” Akechi passed his hat to Akira to hold it as he washed his face. 

“Well, we were told it was special but you kind of put it in your mouth before Haru could eat it.” Akira looked the hat over before he stuck it on his head. “Do you actually have any spice tolerance or was it really that bad?” 

“I don’t mind a bit of tabasco in my food from time to time but, whatever was in that takoyaki was something much hotter.” Akechi dried his face with some paper towels before looking at Akira with an amused smile. “You like my hat?” 

“It’s comfy.” Akira shrugged. “I didn’t peg you as the kind of guy to wear hats though.” Akira took the hat off to return it to Akechi.

“I don’t wear casual clothes too often. Most of the time I’m going from school to a shoot or work.” Akechi explained fixing his hat back on. “It makes for a good disguise when I need it though. People won’t look for me in clothes like this.” 

“Yeah no one expects the great Detective Goro Akechi-san to wear a hoodie and a hat.” Akira teased, poking the brim of the hat.

“You’re never going to let that title go are you?” Akechi let out a sigh. “Maybe I should wear my actual casual clothes more often though, it might surprise you to see what I own.” Akechi jabbed back as the two of them walked back out.

“Oh you mean you own more than a blue sweater vest? Don’t tell me, you have a green one too.” Akira grinned. 

“I--I mean I do but that’s not the point!” Akechi frowned deeply and Akira could make out a light blush on his face when Akira started to laugh. He continued to giggle as they returned to the table to find that their friends had vanished. “Well, looks like they didn’t want to wait around.”

“Those guys…” Akira frowned feeling very set up right now. He knew it. That was the weird mood before. Damn it. Were they trying to give him and Akechi time alone as a date kind of thing? “Well, I’m sure you don’t want any more takoyaki, I heard another class set up a cafe?” 

“I’m not sure I want to actually consume anything else.” Akechi laughed nervously.

“Well, we can walk around and see what happens. Maybe you’ll get found out and we have to run away dramatically.” Akira teased as they began to walk around the festival.

There were a few booths dedicated to food of some kind or another, one poor attempt as a haunted house tour, which Akira was quickly asked to leave from when he tried to pull the mask off of one of the students.

“It’s just a habit!” Akira defended himself as Akechi steered him out of the doors while the girl Akira had scared began to cry.

There was also a dating thing that Akira avoided at all costs. He was not about to make this forced festival date even more date-like.

It was near the end of the first day when the two of them ran back into the group at the school entrance,” Oh look, it’s our friends waiting to meet us.” Akira said almost dryly. 

“We just wanted to give you two some time alone.” Makoto explained with a smile. “I mean, as large a group as ours would have just drawn attention and Akechi-kun would have been found out in a second. You two put so much effort in for us we thought it best you guys get some alone time to really have fun without thinking about us! You were able to enjoy yourselves, right?” 

“We did, thank you. Even after the incident with the takoyaki.” Akechi smiled looking a bit haunted.

“Was it that spicy?” Futaba questioned nudging closer. 

“Let’s not talk about it.” Akechi was clearly scarred.

“Hmm. Oh!” Futaba perked up. “How about since we’re all here we get a photo!” She clapped her hands together. “Gimmie your phone.” Futaba made grabby hands at Akechi.

“Mine?” Akechi questioned but produced his phone anyway.

“Yours has the best camera here! It’ll be the best photo quality!” Futaba explained before demanding that Akechi unlock his phone before tapping for a camera. They all gathered together before letting Yusuke take the phone, as he was the tallest, to snap the picture. Once it was taken Akechi reached as if to take it back but Futaba snatched it up first. “And now to send it to everyone.” Futaba started to tap away at the screen. 

“Well, no arguing with her.” Akechi shrugged a little with a smile. “Tomorrow I’ll be here for the panel so I’m glad we were able to walk around today.” 

“It was fun.” Akira agreed before his phone buzzed with the photo they’d just taken.

“All done~” Futaba returned Akechi’s phone to him. “See guys? Best photo quality.” 

“Yes. I was sponsored by a company recently that asked me to use their device as an advertisement.” Akechi looked his phone over. “It’s pretty reliable, and you’re right. The camera is very good.” Akira leaned his head over to look at the screen as Akechi pulled up the picture they’d just taken. Everyone was smiling looking at the camera save for Akechi. Akechi was looking at Akira. 

Akira swallowed before taking a step away to stelathly rub just under his adam’s apple to try keeping a flower down. He didn’t need that now.

“Maybe I should get that brand when I get my next one.” Futaba hummed playfully. “Well, I think we can call today’s mission a success! Let’s go home!” 

“I’m going to stay around a bit longer to look at the art exhibit.” Yusuke announced. 

“If it’s not a bother could I follow you home for a bit of that coffee we had the other day?” Akechi requested of Akira. 

“Sure. If we don’t get through it all soon the beans will go bland.” Akira agreed. “Morgana are you coming with us?” Akira asked, looking at his not-cat on Futaba’s shoulder since she carried his bag around.

“Yeah.” Morgana answered before Futaba passed his bag to him. 

“I don’t know how you carry him around all the time. He’s so heavy.” Futaba rolled her shoulder now that the pressure was gone.

“You’re just out of shape.” Morgana teased back before the party left the school to go their separate ways.

Once they got to the cafe Akechi took a seat, placing his hat on the counter while Akira went around to start making coffee. “I have to say today was a bit exhausting.” Akechi commented. 

“Yeah? Was that before or after the molten takoyaki?” Akira teased as he started to ready for the coffee.

“Most certainly after.” Akechi put his head on the counter now too as he pulled his hood up to hide his shame.

“If you’re so tired you could try the bathhouse nearby?” Sojiro suggested. “Could do you more good than a cup of coffee. You both look like you could use it.” Sojiro suggested. Akira was glad he had great physical control of himself or he might have spilled beans everywhere at Sojiro’s suggestion. Why was everyone trying to put Akira in these horribly romantically charged situations? He was going to actually die tonight at this rate.

“Hmm,” Akechi put his head back up,” a bath might be nice. Would you join me?” Akechi looked to Akira who had turned away to hide his heating face. “Is that a no?” 

“I’ll go.” Akira gathered himself together. Why did he say that? He could have said no and been safe. Why was he like this? “The beans should still last for a while longer.” Akira put the bag away as he came back around to the counter to join Akechi. “Shall we?” Why was he so _stupid_?

“Yes.” Akechi stood, leaving his hat behind as he followed Akira to the bathhouse. Akira pointedly ignored watching Akechi get changed out of his clothes and during the wash before they got into the bath. 

Once they were in the hot water Akira allowed himself to relax at long last. The water wasn’t clear so he was only seeing as much as he’d seen at the beach before. Akira let out a long sigh as he leaned back against the tile.

“This is relaxing.” Akechi also got comfortable next to him. Why was he so close? “It’s been a while since I’ve taken a bath like this.” 

“Is that so?” Akira questioned keeping his eyes shut. 

“Yes, I used to frequent bathhouses when I was younger, so it’s been some years now. These days I do rather well for myself so bathhouses aren’t really something I’ve needed for a long time.” Akechi explained moving a hand through the water. Akira could feel the shift in the way the water moved around him. He was too close. “It took me a long time to figure out what my mother did for work. By the time I was able to even grasp the concept of it, my father was long gone.” Akira listened as Akechi recounted his story daring to open his eyes now. “When she wasn’t in the hospital for her hanahaki she worked at a nightclub, and when she brought men home she would send me to the bathhouse.” This was new information.

“I had no idea…” Akira looked troubled,” that must have been difficult.” 

“It’s in the past now.” Akechi tried to shrug it off. “Not that I can blame her for trying her best to make a living either. Part of me had hoped that maybe she’d find someone else to love and that would be the end of the hanahaki cycle but every time it was always my father, and every time it was my fault it happened. Well, I say that but I can’t exactly be blamed for being alive.” Akechi brightened a little before his expression turned into a sneer. “The one to blame was my father, the worthless degenerate excuse of a man, who abandoned my mother once she was pregnant.” Akechi really _really_ hated his dad.

“Have you ever thought about seeking him out?” Akira asked. 

“At some point I did,” Akechi answered,” I wanted to make him at least apologize to her for all the suffering he caused. I thought that maybe she might be finally free of the cycle of hanahaki if he did, but she didn’t make it.” Akechi cupped his hands to fill them with water before splashing it over his face to rub at it. Was he covering up tears? “Sorry, I certainly picked a rather depressing subject for a bath haven’t I?” 

“It’s fine. I don’t mind. Learning more about you is nice.” Akira answered honestly. “Even if it’s depressing. That makes for a closer friendship doesn’t it?” 

“Yes, I suppose it does.” Akechi agreed. “The water is rather hot, are you ready to get out?” 

“I can go as long as you do.” Akira shook his head. 

“Oh? I take a rather long bath, you sure you won’t get dizzy?” Akechi teased him.

“Yeah I’ll be fine.” 

After a while longer of just soaking the two of them got out to get dressed again. “That was relaxing. I think I’ll be able to get some good sleep tonight before the panel tomorrow.” Akechi stretched his hands up over his head. “I’m much too warm for this though.” Akechi picked up his sweater. “Do you mind holding onto it for me? I don’t want to lose it on the train home. I’m much too relaxed. I feel almost certain I might doze off before my stop.”

“Sure.” Akira took the hoodie. “Do you need me to make sure you make it home in one piece?” Akira asked. 

“Haha. No I’ll be fine.” Akechi promised. “I’ll take it back tomorrow at the festival.” 

“Hmm, we’ll see.” Akira smirked then bundled the sweater up to hold it under one arm as they walked outside.

“Well, if you like it so much you can keep it then. I’ll just buy another.” Akechi tried his best not to smile too much and Akira suddenly was keenly aware of the single fact that Akechi told him to keep the sweater. “I’ll be heading home now to get ready for tomorrow. Good night, Kurusu.” Akechi waved a little before he turned to leave. 

Once Akechi was out of sight Akira ducked back into the laundry mat nearby to cough into his hand until another flower came up, this one bigger than any of the rest. He was light headed from the effort and the blood covered his hand was actually a lot. This was dangerous. He couldn’t understand what his hanahaki was trying to tell him at this point, all he knew was that if he kept going like this, he was dead soon. 

Akechi left the sweater to him on purpose, maybe that was because he did have feelings? Did he just not want to say anything first? It was strange to think but when Akira had to think about it Akechi had been denied things and left alone for a lot of his life. If he did care he might have been too terrified to say anything. “Maybe… I should…” Akira thumbed over the flower in his hand, spreading the blood.

Confessing to Akechi would be risky and went against what Akira swore to himself, but Akira had hope. He had hope that Akechi felt at least similarly enough that he wouldn’t die to the garden overrunning his lungs.

Akira let out a sigh as he dropped the flower in the trash then returned home. Once he entered the cafe Sojiro looked up to him. “Akechi go home?” Sojiro asked and when Akira confirmed he waved Akechi’s hat around. “He forgot this, though it looks like maybe he did it on purpose.” Sojiro raised an eyebrow at the sweater. 

“He didn’t want to lose it on the train.” Akira explained away with a blush. “I’ll give it to him tomorrow, with the hat.” Akira moved to take the hat from Sojiro. “Don’t look at me like that.” Akira frowned at the smug look on Sojiro’s face that faded very quickly. “What?”

“Blood.” Sojiro motioned around his lips. Akira put the sweater and hat down again to wash his face and hands before coming back out with a tired sigh. “Listen, it’s a good thing he’s leaving this stuff around. I’ve been around the block when it comes to flirting. I know how it works and that boy is definitely flirting.” Sojiro tipped his glasses down to look at Akira with a knowing smile. “Maybe try out telling him how you feel tomorrow? School festival romances aren’t a bad cliche.” 

Akira was silent for a while at that, only turning his head to look over at Morgana jumped up into a chair to look at him. “I… might.” Akira chewed on his bottom lip. “Don’t pressure me okay?” He snapped when Sojiro laughed. “I’m going to bed early.” Akira announced before he made his way up to his room.

“So you’re going to do it?” Morgana asked once they were alone. 

“Aren’t you the one always telling me to give it a try?” Akira rolled his eyes. 

“Usually,” Morgana started to clean his face,” but…” 

“But what?” Akira looked back to the not-cat.

“Nothing, I’m just surprised you’re finally going to do it.” Morgana gave the best grin he could as a cat. “I’ll be rooting for you.” 

“Keep making fun of me and I won’t do it.” Akira’s expression soured before he started to change for bed. Once he was finished he regarded Akechi’s hoodie for a minute before deciding that he was going to indulge for once in his stupid short life and put it on. Morgana could make fun of him all he wanted, Akira was just doing something he wanted to do for once.

Once the sweater was on Akira climbed into bed. It was a chilly night so it was a perfect time for this. The sweater itself was very soft and comfortable and it smelled so nice. Was it Akechi’s cologne? Whatever it was it was luling Akira into a deep sleep as he pressed the sleeves to his face and inhaled through the oxygen tubes, catching the scent a little. He could get used to it.

___________________________________________

The following day Akira purposefully left the sweater behind, if Akechi really did want it back he’d have to come get it himself. Akira would give him back his hat though. Once classes were over Akira met with the rest of the group in an upper viewing area of the gym as Akechi and Makoto took to the stage to do the panel. It was the highlight of the festival clearly as the gym was packed with people from all over. People really wanted to hear Akechi speak. 

Makoto led with staging that the audience wanted to hear more about the Phantom Thieves, which was understandable. A lot of people were probably wondering if Akechi had any clues as to who they were since he was a detective and spoke often about them on TV. 

“He’s certainly the people pleaser, isn’t he?” Ryuji complained as the audience laughed at his joke about being the one interrogated. 

“Well, with all the media shows he does it’s not surprising.” Yusuke mentioned as Makoto’s questions got to the point of what Akechi was allowed to mention about them. 

“He’s a pretty good actor.” Ann added as the questions Makoto asked moved from the Phantom Thieves to questions instead about his hair product.

“Good on Makoto for angling the questions away from the Phantom Thieves.” Akira leaned on the hand railing as he popped on Akechi’s hat.

“I’m sure she’s just reading the submitted questions.” Yusuke turned his eyes from the stage. “That was the hat Akechi was wearing yesterday?” 

“He left it at the cafe. I thought I should give it back to him today since he’d be here.” Akira shrugged, looking down to where Futaba and Haru sat together in the audience with Morgana in Haru’s bag.

“Why’d he do that?” Ryuji raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t he the kind of guy to be anal about leaving anything sitting around?” 

“Probably.” Akira’s answer came just as Akechi’s phone rang. He apologized that he had to take the call before stepping off of the stange. Makoto called for a short recess while Akechi was busy with the call. 

During the break everyone decided to get drinks or snacks before the second half could commence. Akira on the other hand sought out Akechi. He used his finely honed third eye to basically guess where Akechi would be. Finding him hiding away in the PE faculty office speaking on the phone. 

Rather than rush in and interrupt an important conversation, Akira leaned against the wall nearby to spin the hat around in his finger to wait. He wasn’t trying to listen in but he could hear a few things like ‘of course’ and ‘I’ll get it done.’

Once Akechi was done with his phone call he exited the room, pausing to stare at Akira with wide eyes once he realized he was there. “Were you listening to my conversation?” 

“No.” Akira shook his head. “Should I have?” Akira teased. 

“I’d hope not.” Akechi tried to look less shocked about Akira’s being there and turned his attention to Akira twirling his hat. “I left that behind too did I?” 

“Yeah, but you told me I could keep the sweater so I just brought the hat.” Akira caught the brim between his fingers after a deft flip to offer the hat to Akechi. “After the panel did you want to try for that coffee again?” 

“I believe I’ll pass on that.” Akechi shook his head. “Rather I’d like to gather everyone together tomorrow to discuss Sae-san’s palace.” 

“Sure.” Akira tried his best not to pout. “How about just hanging out around here?” 

“I can’t. I have work I have to get done.” Akechi took the hat finally before turning it around to stick it back on Akira’s head,” I don’t have a place to put that right now, so I’ll take it back tomorrow after the meeting.”

“Keep giving me your clothes and I’ll think you’ve got a crush on me.” Akira pushed the brim of the hat up to look at Akechi with a smirk. 

“Try not to get a swelled head.” Akechi smiled. “I believe my ten minutes are up. I’ll be going.” 

Akira this time did pout as he watched Akechi leave. He was tempted to shout his feelings in that moment like some dramatic anime scene but with the mood how it was and the finality in his voice Akechi might just laugh at him.

“Another day.” Akira muttered to himself before fixing the hat on his head. There was a long pause where Akira waited for his hana haki to kick off, which it did, do he rushed to the nearest bathroom to spit it into the toilet. Once he was cleaned up he went back to where he’d been watching from above with the others. 

Upon returning to his friends Akira approached to hear Ryuji basically shout about something or another being bullshit. It was a little different from his usual cries of unfairness, this one actually sounded serious. “What’s going on?” Akira questioned once he got close enough to them.

“Nothing.” Ryuji mumbled as he turned to watch Akechi and Makoto climb back onto the stage.

“That didn’t sound like it was nothing.” Akira pressed. 

“Just rumors about Kamoshida being a victim.” Ann excused him. “People are really laying into the idea of it now and it’s… yeah.” Ann played with the end of her hair to distract herself. 

“Ignore them. We’ll figure it out.” Akira reached to give Ryuji a pat on the shoulder. 

“I thought you were going to give that hat back.” Yusuke motioned to Akira. 

“His words were, _I have nowhere to put it now. I’ll take it back tomorrow._ ” Akira shrugged. “Which brings up that we’re going to have a meeting tomorrow. Everyone good for that?” 

“Of course.” Haru smiled.

“Great, we’ve got a plan we’ve been working out. Just depends if you guys approve.” Akira leaned on the handrailing again as the questions continued. 

“One more question for you today,” Makoto spoke into her mic before unfolding a paper. After she read it over she sighed. “Well this might be a little personal, if you choose not to answer that’s fine but the question is, do you currently have a girlfriend or are you looking for one?” 

“I honestly expected this kind of question much sooner. I applaud the restraint of the audience for not submitting that question a few dozen times.” Akechi chuckled, earning a few laughs in return,” I can say with certainty I’m not looking for a girlfriend, nor do I have one.” 

“What about a boyfriend?!” a young man basically screamed from the back of the gym. 

“I believe that I’m only obligated to answer questions submitted through the proper channels.” Akechi dodged answering flawlessly.

A small wave of dry sobs and disappointment washed through the gym. “So now you have to wonder if that’s him saying he’s not looking for a relationship or if it’s him saying he’s not into girls.” Futaba wondered and Akira had to agree. Akechi wasn’t sharing anything more than that though as he thanked the school for having him before he left the stage.

“Well, I guess that’s the end here.” Akira stepped back. “Any more plans for today?” 

“There’s the after festival party but…” Ryuji frowned. “I’m not really in the mood for it.” 

“Neither am I honestly.” Ann sighed. “I think I’ll just head home.” Each of the others agreed on just going home for the day, Futaba calling to spend time with Haru to try broadening her horizons. Morgana was interested in their sleep over and decided he would also go with them leaving Akira to head home alone.

However, before he could exit the building Kasumi caught him. “Are you not going to the post-festival party, senpai?” She questioned him. 

“I was about to head out. I didn’t really have anyone to go with so it didn’t seem like something I would want to attend.” Akira shrugged. “You?” 

“Well, how about since we ran into each other on our own, we go together?” Kasumi suggested. “I’ve heard these kinds of events should be enjoyed together so let’s have some fun!” 

Akira hummed as he weighed his options, he could go home alone now or he could wear himself out at this party thing then go home and sleep. He knew which option sounded better at least,” Yeah alright. I’m sold.” Akira turned to face her.

“Great!” Kasumi took hold of Akira’s hand to guide him to the gym as the post-festival MC began to announce they were going to start something called the student sharing special after the members of the dance club came out to hype the crowd up and get them dancing. “This is great!” Kasumi began to sway with the music and Akira sort of just leaned from side to side, he felt like a tool standing around with high energy Kasumi while he wore Akechi’s HERO hat. It was only made marginally better by the fact that the dance club members had hats too.

“Yoshizawa, could we ask you a favor?” A couple of dance members approached Kasumi giving Akira an excuse to stop and listen. Well, he tried, they whispered something between one another before Kasumi agreed to whatever it was. After she requested that Akira stay put and watch, she moved to the middle of the room and began an elaborate dance.

It was impressive to watch and Akira found that he really wanted to watch one of her performances one of these days. If she was doing this on a gym floor then he had to bet she was amazing on the mat. Once her dance was over Akira couldn’t help but smile as she joined him again. “You worked hard.” Akira greeted her when she got close to him again as the people in the gym began to dance harder. 

“Yeah! That was exhausting but I had a blast!” Kasumi grinned. “How about we take a quick break outside?” Kasumi pointed to their doors then led them out. “Fresh air is just what I needed!” 

“I’m glad you had fun with it.” Akira and Kasumi walked toward the vending machines where Akira bought them both water. “For the hard work.” 

“Thank you, senpai!” Kasumi accepted the drink before she began to drink. “Can I ask you about your hat?” Akira reached up to touch the brim before nodding. “I saw someone wearing that hat yesterday right? A boy?” 

“Goro Akechi.” Akira answered. “Believe it or not we’re friends outside of the cafe and Kichijoji. He was undercover yesterday to hang out and enjoy the festival.” Akira teased Kasumi.

“Sorry!” Kasumi looked surprised. “I guess if I think about it, it did kind of look like him.” 

“Yeah, he came by for a coffee last night and forgot his hat. I was going to give it back but he claimed he had nowhere to put it so he’d get it tomorrow.” Akira shook his head.

“Wow Kurusu-senpai, you two are close aren’t you? Oh! I saw you with Okumura-senpai yesterday. You make amazing friends easily don’t you?” Kasumi wondered. “Maybe it’s your amazing charisma?” 

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell everyone but they don’t believe me.” Akira groaned. “Finally someone gets it.” 

Kasumi laughed at this until her phone began to ring from her pocket. She checked the message before capping her bottle. “That’s my dad, he’s telling me to come home before it gets too late.” Kasumi sighed. “He’s been worrying about me a lot since my sister… I can’t blame him.” Kasumi looked thoughtfully to the ground then snapped her head up to smile at Akira. “Sorry to leave you like this but I have to get going. Thank you for the water.” 

“Do you need me to walk you home?” Akira asked as Kasumi had a track record for attracting all kinds of creeps. 

“I should be fine but thank you!” Kasumi gave a thumbs up. “The party was super fun, especially with you there. I’ll see you soon!” Kasumi bowed then left Akira on his own. After checking his phone for messages to find none, Akira decided to head home for the day. 

______________________________________

The following day the party met back at Leblanc for their meeting. As usual they met in the attic where Akira setup drinks for everyone. Makoto was going to find this suggestion hard so he made sure to get her favorite snacks. Once everyone had arrived Akira let Akechi have the floor. This was all this idea after all. 

“They’re going to announce on the news soon that an official arrest warrant has been filed against the Phantom Thieves. In addition to that, a bounty has been placed on any information that may lead to said arrest, something to an excess of thirty million yen if I recall correctly.” Akechi lead with and Akira felt very cold suddenly as a wave of gasps traveled around the room.

“When did they decide that?” Makoto questioned, her face visibly paling. 

“Last night. Sae-san is desperate for favorable results so she’s putting all her resources to the test to see progress made. With that much money on offer they’ll get just about anyone willing to provide testimony, even if it’s false.” Akechi explained. “We’re all clearly at our wit’s end so I have a suggestion to make for our next target.” 

“ _Next_ **target**?!” Ryuji snapped. “We shouldn’t even be thinkin’ about that kind of shit right now!” 

“This is exactly the time we need to think about it.” Akechi countered firmly. “We have our backs against the wall and people honestly believe we killed Okumura and Kobayakawa. The best way to prove we’re not the killers is by changing the heart of someone who can expose the false evidence.” 

“Okay but, the cops have nothing on us. There’s nothing we need to worry about.” Futaba frowned. 

“While that is true, there’s groundwork being laid as we speak. Fabricated testimonies and pinning the blame to a culprit is already underway,” Akechi reiterated what he had already said,” they don’t care about the truth, they care about results.” 

“Could someone innocent of being a Phantom Thief be arrested?” Haru questioned. 

“It’s possible, I’ve heard some rumors they have someone in mind; however, even my contacts are resisting telling me.” Akechi looked troubled. “The only reason I can think of for that is that I’m a known associate of the person they plan to pin.” Silence fell over the room as eyes slowly shifted from Akechi to look at Akira instead.

“Me.” Akira said matter of factly once he had a quick glance over of the party. 

“I’m afraid that might be the case.” Akechi agreed. 

“Who do you have in mind for a change of heart?” Yusuke questioned. 

“I’ll be blunt, this won’t be received well but, I believe our best course of action is to change Sae-san’s heart.” Akechi said carefully, looking at Makoto. 

Makoto made a troubled expression but folded her arms as an uncomfortable silence fell over the group once more.

“But--” Haru started after too long had passed,” is that really okay?” 

“It’s _way_ too risky.” Ryuji disagreed. 

“It is, but this is the best way to avoid having **him** wrongfully accused of murder.” Akechi explained motioning to Akira. “If Sae-san isn’t set right, then she’ll use whatever she can to get her conviction.” 

“That’s bullshit. Wouldn’t someone realize it’s fake evidence?” Ann spoke. 

“I’ve mentioned before that the police are corrupt. The people around Sae-san wouldn’t think twice about letting that kind of evidence stand. All they care about are results.” Akechi answered by repeating the phrase he had used before to make a point.. 

“Are you fucking serious?” Ryuji looked aghast at the information.

“I am. The important thing here is to change her heart and have to come to her senses. The true Sae-san would never let this happen. Her justice wouldn’t allow it.” Akechi explained. “And this is the safest thing we can do for her.” 

“What do you mean?” Makoto finally spoke. 

“If the true culprit were to learn that she’s responsible for the investigation, that she has a palace, what do you think would happen?” Akechi asked. “If I were in their shoes I would see Sae-san as the perfect target to kill to really arm the police and the public against the Phantom Thieves. Turn her into a martyr.” 

“You’re sure that this is the best course of action?” Makoto looked nervous. 

“I am. This would remove Sae-san’s palace as well as give her a clear mind with this investigation. Most importantly she’ll also serve as a fine warning to others not to meddle with us any further.” Akechi explained. When met with mixed expressions of confusion Akechi continued. “They can’t go public if someone within the investigation team, the person heading it no less, had a change of heart. It would show their corruption to the public.”

“This is…” Makoto sighed,” is this really our best option?” It was less a question and more like an acceptance of the fact that Akechi was right.

“I think so.” Akira finally spoke up. He wanted to show his support for this idea as well. “It feels dirty pushing your sister like this, but Akechi is right. We need to make a statement. If we can force a change of heart in your sister, then the police would have to back off, at least enough for us to breathe and figure out the real culprit.” 

“That’s another thing I wanted to talk about.” Akechi said slowly. “I realize part of the reason the Phantom Thieves formed was to fight injustice and help Morgana regain his memories. But it’s getting far too dangerous to continue as we have been. I’d like to suggest disbandment after this palace.” 

“What?” Akira questioned this idea coming at him from nowhere. Why didn’t Akechi suggest this to him as well?

“I know it’s sudden, but I think it would be far too reckless to keep going after this. I’m sorry.” Akechi offered Akira a disappointed look. “It’s the safest route to take.” 

Once again the room fell into a steely silence. No one wanted to stop, but Akechi was also right, there was severe danger around them already and if they didn’t stop at some point they were going to end up getting killed. 

After a while Makoto spoke carefully,” it’s a solid plan.” When questioned by Ryuji, Makoto continued,” it would end the investigation against us, and it would put us at the back of the public’s mind once more after some time has passed. We wouldn’t be in so much danger. But what about the culprit?” 

“I’ll work with Sae-san myself to find him.” Akechi promised. “I swear to you that I’ll make sure he’s brought to justice. I don’t expect an agreement to disband at this moment. Take time to think about it first, we can wait until her palace is complete before we make an official decision.” 

“Thank you.” Akira nodded. Part of him wanted to keep doing this forever, he loved his friends and he loved helping people out of bad situations. He knew they wouldn’t go forever, but he wanted to.

“But, Mako-chan is this okay with you?” Haru asked. 

“I’m okay.” Makoto tucked a bit of hair behind her ear. “I never brought it up until now, but the reason I really joined the Phantom Thieves was to change my sister’s heart. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but I was prepared for it. I’ve known for some time that she’s had a palace.” Makoto admitted looking away from everyone.

“Should we spend today finding out her palace keywords?” Akechi suggested. 

“I have plans after this.” Makoto shook her head. 

“In an effort to appear normal I also have plans for the next few days.” Yusuke announced. “I’ll be free after the 29th.” 

“Well, we have time before they’ll make their move. So let’s meet on the 29th to figure out her keywords.” Akechi announced. “Sound good?” 

“Yes.” Makoto agreed. 

“Alright, let’s end this here today then.” Akira sighed, twisting his bangs..

“If you’re free after this would you like to play a round of billiards?” Akechi questioned him. “My treat?” 

“Sure.” Akira agreed without thinking. He did want to talk to Akechi but his idea of any sort of confession went right out the window when Akechi suggested they break up the group after Sae’s palace. So now he guessed he was just going to spend time with him instead. That was fine. 

“Alright everyone, we’ll meet again on the 29th. Be safe getting home.” Makoto stood from her seat to gather her bag before she left, everyone following slowly behind her. 

“I’ll get changed before we head out.” Akira announced to Akechi before he left to wait downstairs. Once Akira was changed he joined Akechi before heading to Penguin Sniper.

“I’m wondering how much better you’ve gotten since the last time we played.” Akechi announced as he paid for their time.

“I feel like I’ve gotten pretty good. Are you going to use your left hand on me today?” Akira teased. 

“I said I would only do that _after_ you beat me.” Akechi reminded him as he racked up the balls for their game,” So, have you figured out how to really play?” 

“Don’t aim the ball just to hit it into a pocket. Set off chain reactions to sink in each one.” Akira explained. “Do you want to break or shall I?” 

“After you.” Akechi motioned for Akira to start. Once Akira broke the set he moved around to sink two balls. “Oh? You have improved. You come to play often without me?” 

“I’ve brought a few people along.” Akira shrugged as he leaned on the table to watch Akechi go. “Does wonders for building a bit of fun banter and forming relationships. It’s almost like a dating sim where I can see the points shoot up every time I show off some fancy move I learned in a magazine.” 

“You really dedicated some time to this didn’t you?” Akechi chuckled, stepping back to let Akira have his turn. “Let me pose another way for you to think of the game, it has similarities with something you could call a perfect crime.” As Akechi explained Akira glanced with him with some confusion before focusing back on the ball in front of him to figure out his angle. “You strike one target to set off another without ever implicating yourself. Sound familiar?” 

“Like what’s happening now with the mental shutdown perpetrator.” Akira said as the lightbulb went off in his head but his hand slipped so he missed his shot completely. 

“Exactly. Every little inconsequential event around us can be seen as a game of billiards. One ball striking another.” Akechi took his shot, only grazing the ball he had aimed for. “But there’s no guarantee the ball can be completely controlled. So you may end up striking things in your path without intention.” 

“Is this an innuendo for what you’re doing?” Akira questioned. “Because I’m not sure I’m picking up on what you mean exactly, you’re kind of holding all the cards.” Akira frowned, he wanted to speak about what led Akechi to wanting to disband the Thieves. “Which doesn’t seem fair to change the game on me without telling me to put down the pool stick and pick up my poker hand. But whatever the case, I’m not going to miss my shot.” Akira moved around to hit the ball setting off a chain reaction to sink his winning shot. “I guess that means you’ll come at me for real now right?” 

“I guess so, let’s leave that for another time though.” Akechi walked around the table to put the rest of the balls away. “How about we step outside for a moment for some fresh air? I feel like you may want to talk to me about what happened earlier, and that’s hard to do with these people around.” Akira couldn’t deny that, Akechi was good at reading him, damn. 

Akechi and Akira collected their things before heading outside to walk the street toward the temple. It was closed now and there were few people walking around the area outside the gates. “When you talked to me about targeting Sae-san, why didn’t you mention you also were thinking about suggesting we disband?” Akira asked, leaning against the wall.

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to suggest it at all,l and I didn’t want to cause undue stress.” Akechi answered looking to the sky. “Since I’ve joined you I’ve come to realize none of you are evil. Every one of you deserves a chance to live peacefully. I can take up arms to finish what we started so you can live the normal high school life.” 

“And you can’t?” Akira glanced at Akechi to look at his face.

“I have personal matters I have to finish first.” Akechi said bitterly. “Until I settle those matters I cannot lay down my weapons.” 

“Is it your dad?” Akira took a stab in the dark. 

“You...how?” Akechi looked to Akira with wide eyes. 

“Just a guess. You talked about how much you hate him. I took a guess that with all your amazing detective skills you probably tracked him down.” Akira answered as he put his hands in his pockets. “Are you going to try changing his heart?” 

“No.” Akechi shook his head. “I had other plans for him that were much more real world.” 

“So why continue to search for the culprit behind the mental shutdowns?” Akira questioned. “Why keep going without all of us?” 

“As I said, it would be safer.” 

“For us or for you?” 

“For everyone.” Akechi frowned. “We’ve all been victims of unjust adults, but just because we have the power to make a little change, people are upset. They call us unjust and evil. If the Phantom Thieves can pull off one more change, to show the corruption within the ranks of the police and prosecutor’s offices, then I think that would be enough. Evil people would actually be held accountable for their actions. And I plan to do that without the power from the Metaverse.” 

“You wouldn’t let me join you ?” Akira questioned after a long bit of thinking. 

“Y-you what?” The question caught Akechi off guard with his question. After a moment Akechi gathered his thoughts back together. “I advise you don’t say things like that without really thinking what it would mean. You have a criminal record, and putting yourself in that kind of investigation could lead to problems for you later.” 

“Because you said they see me as a suspect right?” Akira confirmed with Akechi before continuing,” So even if I’ve been proven innocent you think it would be a bad idea?”

“Honestly, yes.” Akechi adjusted one of his gloves. “I appreciate the offer but I’ll be able to handle this on my own.” Akechi said with some finality in his voice and it worried Akira. 

“You’re almost making it sound like I won’t see you anymore after we disband.” Akira was worried that bringing this up might kill him, but he had to know what Akechi was planning. 

“I… plan to distance myself from you after.” Akechi answered after some time and Akira felt something in him break a little. “It’s safer for me to remove myself from your life so you aren’t dragged into more things.” Akira felt his chest constrict at the confession of Akechi’s plans. Akira had been so close, but if this was what Akechi was planning then what was the point? Akechi would tell him no and then he’d die. 

“I see.” Akira looked away. He wanted to run away. He was going to spit up more flowers.

“I’m sorry. We can still enjoy that coffee you brought back from Hawaii a little bit longer.” Akechi said and Akira could hear the smile on his face. It was the one he used when he was trying to play nice, it was the one he used when he was trying to make peace. “I will miss our discussions though. I never got around to teaching you how to play chess…” 

“Chess?” Akira looked back to him.

“It was on my list of things I wanted to do with you.” Akechi waved a hand. “Well, it’s getting late. Let’s head home for now. Thank you for indulging me.” 

“Right.” Akira put his hands in his pockets. “I’m going to sell some sooty armor so you go ahead.” Akira nodded, swallowing hard at the cough that wanted to tear from his chest. “Travel safe.”

“You as well.” Akechi waved then began to walk away. Akira watched him walk until he rounded the corner. Once he was out of sight Akira clapped a hand over his mouth as he slid down the wall coughing hard. It didn’t take much for the first flower to come up, but he wasn’t done, another came, then another after. His eyes blurred from tears and his throat burned from the force of at least a dozen bloody flowers making their way out of his throat. He wondered vaguely if this was him dying right then and there, but after what might have been the fifteenth or so flowers it stopped and Akira leaned against the wall taking in gulps of cold air to try and help his spinning head. He really felt like he was about to pass out.

Akira swallowed back another cough, this one just felt like it was due to the damage the flowers had done to his throat, before he turned his head to spit blood to the ground. The front of his shirt was covered in blood and upon inspection of his hand it was still dripping with it. He wondered how his face looked. He could feel the wetness of his blood drying against his skin. This was bad. He didn’t have the courage to go to Takemi to see if he was going to suddenly die sooner. He was done with that, he just wanted to live out what he could while he had the time. 

Akira forced himself to stand, his legs shaking with the effort to keep him upright. Once he was able to stop them from shaking he took out his inhaler to take a breath of medication only to find that it stung his damaged throat badly. He was going to have a hell of a time trying to speak tomorrow like this. He let out a painful sigh before pulling his shirt up at the hem to try scrubbing his face clean and wiping his hand off. 

Akira took his phone out to check how he looked on the screen to make sure there were no little flecks or dots left behind. He didn’t want someone stopping him on his way home to ask where he was hurt or who he’d hurt. Once he was sure he could hide the rest of his bloody mess he began the task of getting back home. 

He paused only once to look back at the bloody camellias he was leaving behind but he couldn’t muster the energy to clean it up. He said a silent apology to the temple monks then continued on, buttoning up his coat to hide the blood. He then put his hands into his pockets to avoid suspicious looks at his bloody palms.

Once he managed to get back in the area around home, he spotted Futaba waiting for him outside with Morgana. “There you are.” Futaba stood up. “I was wondering when you were going to come home. Things go well?” 

Akira looked at her before shaking his head. He decided it would just be best to show her before Morgana could spot the shirt and rat him out anyway. He took his bloody hand out of his pocket to show it to her before lifting his coat for the rest,” I’m,” Akira sounded terrible and it hurt to speak so his voice was low and it made him sound even more pitiful,” pretty sure I’m screwed.” 

“What happened?” Futaba’s face paled noticeably in the streetlight.

“A lot…” Akira didn’t want to talk about it right now, he wanted to get washed up,” can I text you about it later?” 

“Uh-yeah. I was about to head inside to get some curry before Sojiro closed up, so I’ll head in with you?” Futaba stood. “Then tomorrow we can talk…” 

“Talking isn’t a strong point right now.” 

“Not about this. About… something else.” 

“Huh?”

“It’s not important right now. Tomorrow.” Futaba insisted before opening the door to the cafe to let them in. “Sojiro, we’re here~” Futaba announced proudly however, Sojiro was staring intensely at something on the counter with a stoney expression on his face,” Sojiro?”

In an instant Sojiro picked the object up from the counter to face it toward Futaba and Akira with a heated glare. “I was cleaning up and I found this.” Akira stiffened, he didn’t need this to happen tonight, he didn’t need it to happen ever. “This is a calling card, right? I’ve read about it online too.”

“You went into my room without my permission?!” Futaba accused Sojiro, trying to change the flow of the conversation before it could go badly. Akira’s throat was too sore to actually say anything. Sojiro dismissed the accusation and promised to apologize later, then insisted on an answer about the card. 

Akira wanted to blurt out it was a custom fan made card. It wasn’t real and Futaba was just a PhanGirl but his throat seized up as he tried to get the words out leaving him coughing again and Futaba to try and figure something out. She was smart. It would be fine. However when Akira looked at her she was clearly panicked. This wasn’t good. There was a lot going on and between him and Sojiro she was probably on the verge of a panic attack.

“So, you’re getting flustered over it… I guess it’s not just some ‘game’ you’re playing then.” Sojiro was making up his own conclusions. Futaba said nothing and Akira couldn’t help with the damage to his throat as it was. He barely managed to get the coughing to stop before Sojiro slapped the card back onto the counter. “Explain.”

Futaba was trying to figure out what to say but her anxiety was spiking and she was shaking all over. She wasn’t thinking clearly. Akira took in a deep breath, as deep as he could with the roots robbing him of precious oxygen space, then cleared his throat. The pain from the action was so intense he almost let out a sob but instead he gripped his hand tight in his pocket and forced himself to speak. “I can explain.”

“I’m talking to Futaba,” Sojiro dismissed Akira,” is this a real one? Did they trigger a change of heart in you?” Futaba at this point was crying, so all Akira could do was give her a hug to try and support her, Sojiro wanted her to talk and frankly, Akira couldn’t talk. “Tell me what happened.” 

“Ever since… Mom died, there was no exit,” Futaba began returning Akira’s hug,” I was tra-trapped in a labyrinth of my heart.” Futaba was stuttering badly, trying her best to explain what it was she had gotten from the Phantom Thieves. “I knew I had to leave it, but I couldn’t do it by-by myself.” Futaba took a few breaths and began to calm down a little as she explained so she released Akira who did the same to let her face Sojiro. 

Sojiro stared with a concerned expression as he watched his daughter try to stand up on her own. She still looked tiny and terrified but she was trying. “Turn the sign to closed and both of you sit down with me. I’ll at least listen to what you have to say.” Sojiro moved from his seat at the bar to the table behind him as Akira did what he was told about the sign. 

He returned to Futaba’s side as she made herself as small as possible in the space opposite Sojiro. “The Phantom Thieves saved me,” Futaba started once Akira was seated,” they stole my messed up heart. It’s the same as mom’s research. They changed my cognition.” Futaba was still shaking and scared, Akira had to wonder if she was scared Sojiro would hate her, or if she was scared that he was going to turn them in.

Akira knew better, Sojiro would never turn Futaba in, himself he wasn’t so sure. “Wakaba’s research,” Sojiro said after a few seconds,” I was wondering if it was something to do with altering someone’s cognition but still…” 

“What gave it away?” Akira forced himself to talk again, he sounded terrible but he needed to know when it happened. 

“You sound terrible.” Sojiro frowned,” at any rate, I figured it out when she suddenly said he was going to go to the beach out of nowhere. Even the doctors had given up on helping her, but then you came along and started to ask about her. At first I really just thought it was better for other kids her age to support her. But as I kept watching the news I started to think about something. I thought about how your sudden change in attitude had been really similar to the other cases they talked about on TV.” Futaba gasped at this, finding it apparently surprising that Sojiro had actually cared to look. “I’m still unsure how Wakaba’s research ties into what the Phantom Thieves are doing, but I really started to look into it. 

“Back in the day I was a government official. My job was to be the bridge between Wakaba’s research and the country.” Sojiro looked ten years older suddenly. “I was around that time I got to know her. She had some pretty morbid jokes, but she told me that she might die in a bizarre way one day. “I still ended up loving her, and when my hanahaki reared its ugly head she accepted me. When she died, just as she said she might, I knew what I had to do. I swore to myself that I would protect you,” Sojiro looked at Futaba,” if anything were to happen to you I would be letting her down.” 

Sojiro looked back down at the calling card then to Akira. “So, you knew about the calling card right? You don’t have to speak, just nod your head.” Akira couldn’t help himself as he did what he was told. There was no more point in trying to lie,” So I’ll ask you just once and I want an honest answer, are you involved with the Phantom Thieves?” Again Akira nodded knowing that this was on edge with sealing his fate, Sojiro was going to turn him in. “So you’re part of that group. People call them criminals! Murderers! Why would you let such dangerous people close to my daughter?!” 

“We’re not murderers!” Futaba spoke up. “And I asked them to change my heart!”

“Wait, ‘ _we’?_ Are you saying that you’re part of that group?!” Sojiro was surprised and it wasn’t something Akira could fault him for. “This has to be some kind of joke. Since when? Since the beach trip? Did they blackmail you? When they changed your heart did they force you to join them?” 

“No!” Futaba cut in again. “I joined them on my own because I wanted to find the culprit who killed my mom!” 

“Wait, killed?” Sojiro was at a loss for words with that part. 

“She was murdered!” Futaba said with confidence. “I remember it now.” 

“Stop this nonsense!” Sojiro demanded but Futaba pressed on. 

“Why won’t you believe me?! Are you the same as everyone else?!” Futaba cried and Sojiro paused. This was a serious thing he was going to have to answer the right way or he’d lose Futaba forever. He knew that just as much as Akira did. “Say something! You had to know that the way mom died wasn’t normal! Then after she died all of her research was just gone!” 

Sojiro stared at Futaba for a minute before he finally spoke, careful in his words. “When she passed away, I did think it was odd. She had just talked about us going on a trip once her research was done. She was going to introduce me as not just a friend, but as your future father. All I was able to do after she died was run. After all my running I just ended up as some old guy running a cafe.” Sojiro ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll be honest. When I learned you were in a bad situation I thought, _I’ll take her in for my own good and maybe hers_. I wanted to make up for running away like I did. It’s my fault all this happened to you.” 

“It’s not.” Futaba shook her head. 

“I acted all high and mighty, I lectured you, yelled even, and in the end I’m getting consoled by her. I’m pretty pathetic aren’t I?” Sojiro looked at Akira. “And getting mad at you considering everything happening to you…” 

“I’m sorry.” Akira managed to get out. 

“Don’t apologize.” Sojiro shook his head. 

“Sojiro, the one who killed mom is the one at fault here.” Futaba insisted. “We never killed anyone, the one who killed mom did. He had to have…”

Sojiro was silent again for a few minutes before he nodded with a bittersweet smile on his face. “I won’t tell anyone so don’t worry about it. You might be Phantom Thieves but you helped Futaba and she’s my daughter. This is your home.” He looked at Akira and suddenly he felt like he could cry. He had only thought of Leblanc as a place he was just staying in. He didn’t think that it would be his actual home. It made him emotional in a few ways. Akira honestly wondered if it was because he was so weak after basically getting rejected by Akechi. 

“I won’t kick you out nor report you. First of all, no one would believe me; secondly, I won’t lose you kids.” Sojiro smiled. “Just promise me that if you get into a fight you can’t win, you’ll back out. If you pissed off the same people that killed Wakaba then they’re not someone kids can deal with. Got it?” 

“Okay.” Futaba agreed. 

“Good, now, all that yelling made me hungry. Let’s have some curry, all right?” Sojiro slid out of his seat to stand. “I’ll make a fresh batch.” 

Once Sojiro stepped away Morgana poked his head up to say that it was a close call but he was glad Sojiro was a good guy. Futaba announced she was tired as she sprawled out on the table and Akira had to agree.

“We gotta tell the others.” Morgana said, crawling into Akira’s lap. “The sooner the better.”

“I feel a century older though.” Futaba leaned back in her seat and let out a sigh. “Are you okay?” She asked Akira. 

Akira only managed a weak thumbs up before putting his head on the table. He was so fucking tired now. He didn’t want to try eating, it would probably hurt, so instead he stood up. After he found a piece of paper he wrote a quick note to give to Sojiro that read,’ _Had a lot of flowers come up tonight, I can’t eat. Thank you for understanding Futaba and I’m sorry for everything I’ve caused.’_ He passed this note to Sojiro who looked him over, spotting his blood stained hand, before he sighed. 

“Get a bath and I’ll make you some soup instead then.” Sojiro pulled money out of his pocket to pay for the bathhouse cost. “I won’t expect you to talk when you come back. Just… be careful with her.” Sojiro looked over Akira’s shoulder to Futaba as she took out her phone to type messages to the rest of the party.

_________________________________

After a long bath Akira came home to soup and bed. The steam helped his throat feel at least a little better so he could speak, albeit weakly. Sojiro gave him some lukewarm soup, and then Akira made his way to his room to fall back into his bed with a heavy thump. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to check for messages only to grow a little confused. Futaba had started the chat in his hanahaki thread.

_** 💐SECRETS ARE HARD💐 ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:32pm:_ **Futaba __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Futaba** : so… i might have still had my calling card from july laying around.  
**Makoto** : The one we gave you to change your heart?  
**Futaba** : bingo.  
**Futaba** : and sojiro found it.  
**Ryuji** : you gotta be fucking kidding  
**Futaba** : he was royally pissed but… he’s okay with it.  
**Ann** : ok with it?  
**Futaba** : he understands how hard it was for me to live. and that i ASKED for you guys to change my messed up heart.  
**Futaba** : he also accepted that my mom didn’t die in anything near a ‘normal’ way.  
**Haru** : So he’s alright with us being the Phantom Thieves?  
**Futaba** : for the time, yes. he just demanded we run from any fight we can’t win.  
**Yusuke** : Boss really is a good man.  
**Futaba** : right?  
**Futaba** : that brings me to my next point. akira’s not talking because he’s in the bathhouse. he didn’t look too great when he got home. then he showed me his shirt. it was really REALLY bad guys.  
**Futaba** : like, blood all over it and his hands kind of bad.  
**Haru** : (╯•﹏•╰)  
**Futaba** : we need to talk about stuff TOMORROW.  
**Makoto** : But…  
**Futaba** : we can’t skate around it anymore.  
**Ryuji** : shit  
**Ann** : after school?  
**Yusuke** : I’ll be there.  
**Futaba** : akira you’re going to read this all and get really confused, just trust us okay? i’m taking monamona home with me so you can’t try to quiz him before it’s time, we’re going to talk as a group in person. and before you ask why we haven’t included akechi… there’s a reason. just trust us okay? see you soon and try to get some sleep.  
**Futaba** : i’m going to lock your account right now. we just need you to wait. i’m sorry.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_{Akira’s account has been temporarily suspended.}_ **

Akira frowned at the messages on screen before he tried to pull up a chat to send Futaba a message but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t send any messages. He was tempted to go to Sojiro’s house and make Futaba tell him now, but he was tired. The blood loss from earlier really messed him up. For now he’d have to let it be. 

Akira let out a long sigh, the effort hurting him some, before he shuffled further up his bed to pass out for the night. He was just tired of all the bullshit.

____________________________________________________________

The following morning Akira still couldn’t send any messages though he had a few. Most were from his other confidants like Kawakami saying she still believed in him and would never turn him in. Another from Iwai taking a jab that if he were a shitty person he’d be all in for thirty million yen. Shinya swore that he’d sooner lose his ability to play games than rat out the Phantom Thieves and Chihaya was as cripitc as ever with her cards saying that even though there was the shadow of death on his shoulder that hope could overturn his fate.

Akira let a hum pass through his throat, the action irritating it still. He didn’t want to deal with this today. With an annoyed expression on his face Akira got up to get ready for school. 

Once he got to school he ran into Ann on her way into class. She looked at him with a nervous laugh on her lips and Akira was starting to really worry about what the hell was going on. “We should head to Leblanc after school tomor-tog--” she paused as she realized she was stumbling over her words very badly,” _together_ okay?” Ann flashed a smile then rushed into class. 

Akira sat behind her as he always did but he spent the whole time trying to somehow silently convey that she needed to at least give him a hint what was going on. When lunch came around Ann slipped out of the class to probably find Ryuji and hide out from him still, this was the worst. 

Rather than run around trying to find his hiding friends, Akira decided to visit Maruki one more time before he was bound to leave. As Akira approached the nurse’s office he spotted Maruki opening the door to head in. “Sensei.” Akira said in the weird strained tone his voice had settled on for the day.

“Hm? Oh. Kurusu-kun, you don’t sound well, are you sick?” Maruki paused to wait for Akira to get closer. 

“Oh you know, flowers are cool.” Akira said almost bitterly. “Can we talk?” 

“Sure, come on in.” Maruki stepped aside to let Akira in. “I take from your chipper attitude that resolving your hanahaki safely hasn’t been going well?” Maruki questioned as Akira plopped into a seat. 

“Not exactly.” Akira mumbled. “I was close for a minute.” This was hard to talk about between how he was feeling emotionally and his throat. He paused to take out his inhaler and give himself a quick dose before continuing. “Some of the stuff he said recently had me thinking that he’d want to date. I didn’t think I was reading it wrong, but then last night he basically said that after we’re done with this… thing we’re doing, he was going to get out of my life.” 

“Oh.” Maruki sat as Akira spoke and offered him a juice box which he took. “You thought that this meant he would have nothing to do with you even if you tried to explain your feelings?” 

“It felt like that.” Akira admitted. 

“This is conjecture on my part, but there’s always a chance he was saying that because he wasn’t sure if you would want anything to do with him. Some people can never make the first move, it just about goes against their very nature.” Maruki began to explain,” You recall how my former girlfriend came up the other day?” Akira nodded. “I had no idea she was trying to send me silent signals to ask her out. She thought she was being so obvious but I’m just way too oblivious for that kind of thing; at any rate, in the end she had to ask _me_ out because I just never realized it. I was at least the one to ask her to marry me.” Maruki chuckled. 

“The point I’m trying to make is that this person your hanahaki is blooming for might be waiting for you to say something first. He might be just as scared as you, but doesn’t understand how dangerous a position you’re in.” Maruki’s words made some sense and Akira couldn’t deny that but Maruki also didn’t have all the information. Not that Akira could give him everything. 

“I want to say from my experience that you might want to give him a chance.” Maruki continued when Akira didn’t try,” It might change everything back around. Plus, you’re kind of alive right now right? If it was really the end you’d likely be dead.” 

“Yeah....” Akira trailed off. 

“You told me yourself that you’re on your last leg with your sickness. Ficus won’t let it get removed, and now he’s telling you he’s going to get out of your life. You don’t have much to loose by sharing your feelings. Even over the phone, since you made a point that you’re worried about subjecting him to seeing you die.” Maruki was making a valid point. “I like you a lot, Kurusu-kun. You’re a good kid and I want you to live a full life, but the only way you’ll be able to is to talk with this boy you like. If you don’t then there’s nothing anyone can really do for you. Well, short of someone else telling him what is happening to you.” Maruki made it sound like if he knew who Akechi was that he’d tell him about Akira’s hanahaki in hopes of saving him. It just made Akira glad he never spilled his name.

“Do your friends know about your hanahaki?” Maruki asked, earning a nod from Akira. “I hope they know more than I do.” Was Maruki going to bait Ann or Ryuji into telling Akechi? Shit. This might have been a bad visit.

“What ever happened to your girlfriend?” Akira asked to take control of the situation.

“Ah.” Maruki sounded before he looked thoughtful,” well… a burglar broke into her family home while we were there.” Suddenly, Akira regretted asking, he had been hoping for a peaceful breakup not whatever this start was going to lead into,” we were visiting at the time and because of that, we saw what they did to her parents. But we didn’t realize that he was still there though, the burglar I mean.” Maruki’s expression turned very serious. “In a desperate attempt to flee the burglar attacked her. I was too scared to help her, and I just let it happen.” Maruki stared at his hands. “I couldn’t do anything in the end. I’m pretty pathetic aren’t I?” He looked to Akira but he wasn’t looking for an answer. 

“We were lucky her injuries weren’t too bad,” Maruki continued,” her physical ones anyway. Her mental scars were much more persistent, and the end result was a mental breakdown.” Maruki explained and Akira only wondered for a second if it was related to the Metaverse. It wasn’t likely though, she had been attacked and her loved ones killed while her fiance did nothing to save her. It wasn’t a surprise she had a mental collapse, but Akira couldn’t find Maruki at fault. Not everyone has the instinct to jump head first into danger. “Injuries of the heart don’t recover as neatly as physical ones do sometimes. You carry that kind of suffering with you for your entire life, and she’ll always carry hers.” 

Akira felt for Maruki, it wasn’t easy to talk about what happened to his girlfriend. Akira could see it on his face as he looked around for anything else to occupy his vision for a minute then he turned his gaze back on Akira. “I also lost myself in that kind of pain. I thought to myself that she did nothing wrong, none of them did, so why did that happen? The unfairness of reality is just too much, and I made a promise right then that I would do whatever I could to fix it. Thanks to you taking time to talk with me I think I’ve found that answer.” Maruki leaned back in his seat. “I’m almost done with my research.” 

“Oh? Just from talking to me? I’m honored.” Akira teased.

“I mean it. You’ve helped me a lot, and when I do finish it I hope you’ll allow me to thank you properly.” Maruki smiled. “You’ll live because you deserve to. You put your heart on the line to save people all the time, someone will do the same for you, I’m sure.” Akira shifted uncomfortably at this because Maruki actually hit on something Akira had thought about at least once. He wanted someone to save him for once. He had always done the saving, it would be nice to be the one saved instead.

Akira was still in deep thought then the bell rang. “Time to go.” Akira stood up,” thanks for listening doc.” 

“I should be the one saying that.” Maruki stood to escort Akira out. “Please try speaking with the person you love. Don’t give up on him or yourself.” 

“I’ll try.” Akira lied with a smile before he returned to class. For the afternoon he stopped glaring at the back of Ann’s head and instead started to scribble notes on paper. Different things he could say to ask for help from his friends or from Akechi. If he wrote a note would it be enough? If he begged Akechi not to leave his life after everything was over would he stay? 

___________________________________

When the final bell rang for the day Akira walked with Ann out of the classroom to meet with Ryuji, Makoto, and Haru outside of the school. No one said anything to him, but did offer him worried smiles. He wanted to know what was going on already but knew he wasn’t going to get an answer right now. Instead, he shut up and followed them back to Leblanc. 

Sojiro took one look at them and decided he was going on a long lunch so he closed the shop while they went upstairs to speak. Futaba was already there with her laptop so they just needed to wait for Yusuke. After an hour or so he finally arrived apologizing for being late before he took a seat. 

“Is he going to come by?” Makoto questioned Futaba. 

“Nope. He’s at the police HQ right now so even if he were to come here we’ll hopefully be long done.” Futaba answered, clicking around the screen before looking at Akira. “So… you’re probably super confused about what is happening.” 

“No shit.” Akira wanted to roll his eyes. 

“It’s not easy to talk with you about,” Haru looked troubled,” but it’s important because it… could kill you.” 

“What?” Akira sat up from his bed to look very seriously around the room at each person until Ryuji handed him a bucket. Why? 

“We need you to listen to this, and I mean listen to all of it okay?” Futaba turned her computer toward Akira before tapping the spacebar to play some audio. 

There was a few seconds of silence before Akechi’s voice came through the speakers,” _I’m surprised you’re calling me Shido-san.”_

“ _I told you not to use my name on the phone.”_ the other person in the call snapped. _“The Phantom Thieves have run out their usefulness. How do you intend to dispose of them?”_

“ _I have a few plans. It depends on what you mean exactly.”_

“ _I mean how Okumura was dealt with. Permanently._ ” the man, Shido snapped. “ _I won’t accept any half-assed plans. I want them all taken out. I don’t think I have to remind you of what will happen if you don’t do as I ask._ ” 

_“I understand._ ” Akechi said after a few seconds.

“ _Good. I want the leader **killed**_.” Shido dammanded.

“ _Of course._ ” Akira felt a chill run up his spine at these words, what the hell was this? “ _The rest will be in disarray after, and unable to act once he’s dead. Too many teenagers dying at once would draw too much attention. Better to do one at a time._ ” 

“ _You’re sure the rest won’t act as long as the leader is gone?”_ Shido questioned. 

_“For a time, yes. They trust me afterall._ ” Akechi sounded almost proud of himself. “ _Once the dust has settled each of them can simply meet with an unfortunate accident._ ” 

“ _Good. I expect it done soon or there will be repercussions._ ” 

“ _I understand.”_ Akechi agreed. _“I’ll get it done._ ” 

After the audio ended Akira felt all eyes on him but all he could do was stare at the computer in front of him. What had he just heard? 

“Wh-when was this…?” Akira asked slowly, feeling like he knew already.

“The school festival.” Makoto answered and Akira suddenly felt sick. He had heard the end of this conversation from the other side of the door. This wasn’t fake.

“How did you get it?” 

“When we took pictures the first day,” Futaba spoke,” I installed a bug on his phone.” 

“Why?” 

“There were too many odd coincidences around him,” Yusuke answered next. “Okumura’s coma and subsequent death, he constantly referred to the culprit as a ‘he’ though the rest of us had never identified a gender, and the biggest was…” 

“He heard me at the TV station.” Morgana spoke up last. “I was the one talking about pancakes. I didn’t think about it until you brought up the charm you bought him. He shouldn’t have been able to understand me then.” 

Akira felt the ground fall out from under him all at once then his hanahaki caught up with him when he violently felt reality crash on him. He gripped the bucket Ryuji had given him and started to spit up flowers as he had last night, but there were so many more of different sizes. He was having a hard time getting any air between what was coming out of his throat and the force of trying not to cry.

He could hear alarmed voices all around him, one shouted at Ryuji to get Takemi while hands found their way to Akira’s shoulders to keep him from falling over. The last thing he heard clearly were apologies from everyone before he completely blacked out. He just couldn’t get enough air. 

He wondered if this was his death as his consciousness faded away. 

He hoped so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> where do i start with this? uh. from the start is good? let's see. somewhere in the middle of last chapter everyone had already started to get really suspicious of akechi. futaba was working out how to get proof before coming to akira with it. she drew in yusuke and ryuji when she left them all alone that first night. then recruited everyone until she had them all watching akechi and akira. Morgana was actually the last one in the know, it was why he stayed with Haru. i think... someone in my comments made a mention that futaba seemed to be suspicious of akechi and they were right. the hard part for them was keeping it from akira. they weren't sure his judgement would have been right minded nor were they sure if he'd survive the betrayal. they still aren't sure. futaba totes put the bug in his phone after taking the photo btw.
> 
> now that i've explained the team's concerns i can talk about continuing with Akechi's confidant ranks. i made him leave bits of clothing behind because flirting is a thing. do you flirt with someone you're about to murder? there's probably some stories about that out there somewhere. it's just a pity that akira finally got the nerve to tell akechi the truth only to find out THIS. poor boy.
> 
> i think the most important part of this chapter isn't the bit at the end here. it was after their pool match when akechi said he was going to seperate from akira. it really fucked him up and if it hadn't made him bleed all over the team was going to try silently working in the background for a while longer. there is a next chapter, there's a lot of next chapters. i'm trying to edit them faster since i don't feel like posting into the next year so... yeah. i'm going fast. i have like... another five chapters ready to go so we'll see how i go posting.
> 
> at any rate thanks for reading! i hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as i enjoyed writing it! 
> 
> preview:  
>  _“Are you okay?”_  
>  _“Still alive so… no.”_


	22. is my heart broken or am i just hungry?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akira survived a severe attack from his hanahaki to potentially good news. now he has to try figuring out if he believes in what might be or believes in what he heard. they make their way into sae’s palace but is akira up to the task of completing this palace?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome to another fun chapter. i’ve decided i don’t actually care about update schedules. i do what i want.

When Akira woke next his first thought was how disappointed he was to be awake at all. He remembered the recording and what he had heard Akechi say. He was planning on killing him. That couldn’t be any clearer an indication that Akechi wouldn’t return his feelings so why was he still alive? 

“Akira?” Morgana questioned next to him after noticing him awake. 

Akira frowned at the familiar sight of his ceiling. He could tell he wasn’t in great shape, his chest hurt like crazy and his throat was protesting anything passing through it including air. He forced himself to sit up, despite Morgana’s protests that he stay down. 

He looked around the room to find that everyone but Makoto was still there waiting for him to wake up. Futaba was curled up next to Yusuke who had fallen asleep sitting upright with a sketchpad in his hands. Ryuji was passed out on the floor near his bed with Ann using him as a pillow. Haru was the only person still awake. She watched him carefully sit up and pull his oxygen off. 

“You should rest, your doctor said you very nearly had a death bloom.” Haru said after Akira started to try to stand. “She said it was lucky Ryuji went to get her or you might have actually died.” 

“Wish I had.” Akira mumbled looking down as Ryuji began to stir awake from the voices.

“We knew it wouldn’t be easy for you to hear that.” Haru looked down at her hands. “We debated not telling you, but then that phone call happened, and Futaba said you were so bloody last night…” 

“How long have you suspected him?” Akira asked. His throat was absolutely fighting him speaking but he needed to know what he had missed. What had his stupid hanahaki crush blinded him to?

“Since my father.” Haru answered as Ryuji actually sat up to watch the two of them. “Not telling you anything was probably the most difficult thing we’ve had to do. But we needed to get proof before anything else.” 

“We were trying to work out how to do it without killing you.” Ryuji spoke up next. “Frankly we’re still not sure we did the right thing.” 

“I needed to know.” Akira shook his head. “Somehow I’m not dead yet so good job.” 

“We’re so sorry Akira-kun.” Haru apologized as more of the party started to wake up at last. “Mako-chan wanted to stay but she couldn’t chance her sister finding out so she went home.” 

“Are you okay?” Futaba asked inching away from Yusuke to pull her knees up to her chest. 

“Still alive so… no.” Akira frowned. “What did Takemi do to keep me from actually dying?” 

“She stabbed you in the chest with some medication,” Ann answered,” and after that said it wasn’t a death bloom. There would have been more stems and stuff. It was just a massive attack.”

“Did she say anything about how long I might survive now?” Akira wondered if he could somehow take Akechi down before he tried to kill everyone else.

“She had no idea.” Yusuke answered. “Optimistically it's the same timeline. Not so optimistically, it could be the next time a huge shock comes to you.” 

“So I have until some unknown time to deal with Akechi?” Akira joked morbidly.

“We’re coming up with a plan.” Futaba mentioned. “But more importantly, we need you to try with him.” 

“Try what?” Akira snapped when he didn’t mean to. “Sorry.” 

“It’s okay. I get it.” Futaba stood up to move to Akira’s side to hug him. “There’s one part of that call we’re not sure about and we think it’s why you didn’t go into a death bloom. A part of you must already know and that’s what your hanahaki responded to.” Futaba released Akira. “He was threatened there at the end. Remember?” 

“Threatened…?” Akira tried to recall but it was hard.

“The other person, Shido, said ‘ _there will be repercussions_ ’ if he didn’t do what he was told.” Futaba repeated. “We don’t know what it means but there’s a chance he’s getting blackmailed somehow.” 

All at once Akira felt a wave of relief wash over him, Akechi might be getting blackmailed. It was a shitty thing to be thankful about but nonetheless he was. The question then came, why didn’t Akechi tell them? 

“We just can’t figure out what could be used against him that outweighs your life.” Haru explained,” We thought for a moment when you said he wanted to talk yesterday that he would tell us. We were really hopeful, honestly Akira-kun, but he didn’t say anything.” 

“Whatever this Shido has on him must be strong enough that he feels like he can’t trust us.” Yusuke suggested. “Or we’re reading too much into it. We don’t know which.” 

“We really hope that it’s all blackmail,” Futaba sat with Akira,” we want it to be something like that because we want you two to work out, we want you to live.” 

“Yeah…Me too.” Akira looked at his hands. “Last night he told me after our billiards game that after this he plans to distance himself from us, from me. I don’t know how to take that and it’s worrying.”

“There’s too much we don’t know about.” Morgana moved up next to Akira. “We’ll make a plan to somehow keep you both safe.” 

“How?” Akira questioned. 

“We don’t know yet. We’re hoping to figure something out in the palace.” Futaba admitted. “The important thing is that we’re now all on the same page.” 

“Yes.” Haru agreed. “We just have to keep this a secret from him for as long as we need to in order to make sure you’ll be safe.” 

“Right.” Akira nodded. “Okay.”

“Good.” Ryuji got up to his feet to sit on the other side of Morgana to pull Akira into a one armed hug. “We’re totally staying here tonight by the way.” 

“I’ve only got one bed…” Akira looked around at everyone. 

“That’s okay! We’re going to camp out downstairs! We were just waiting for you to wake up.” Ann got up. “Boss already brought over blankets.” 

“We’re going to be right here with you, Akira.” Yusuke smiled. “Because we all love you.” 

Akira looked around his bedroom at all of his friends, mentally shoving Makoto into the picture he was taking before he started to cry. He rubbed his face as he tried to hide it away but it wasn’t fooling anyone. Soon enough Ryuji’s arm was joined by everyone else and Akira found himself in the most crushing and comforting hug he’d ever been given in his life and he loved it. He loved his friends. If Akechi really was against them then Akira was going to give his fucking life to protect them. 

____________________________________________________________

_** 💐SECRETS ARE HARD💐 ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _6:24am:_ **Futaba __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Futaba** : alright nerds. i’ve been up for the last 20hrs. i’m wrecking some fucking havoc on this depressing af chat.  
 **Futaba** : here we go.  


**Futaba has changed the group name to _STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS_.**

**Futaba has changed Ann’s name to my gf is hotter than urs.**

**Futaba has changed Yusuke’s name to Bob Ross is my Dad.**

**Futaba has changed Ryuji’s name to banana_hammock.**

**Futaba has changed Makoto’s name to Pixar Mom.**

**Futaba has changed Haru’s name to T & Tea.**

**Futaba has changed Akira’s name to jojo reference.**

**Futaba has changed Morgana’s name to local cryptid.**

**Futaba has changed Futaba’s name to tiny pizza table.**

**tiny pizza table** : my work is done.  
 **Pixar Mom** : Futaba… why?  
 **tiny pizza table** : your name or my 20hrs of consciousness?  
 **Pixar Mom** : Both?  
 **tiny pizza table** : Pixar mom’s are always like… super hot with those thicc butts!  
 **Pixar Mom** : T-thank you?  
 **tiny pizza table** : the other is trying to make some like, pre-plans about saving akira’s life.  
 **tiny pizza table** : if her palace is around the court house like you think, depending on the level of her distortion we might be ablet o formulate a plan around that.  
 **Pixar Mom** : Um. While I admire your dedication, you need to sleep before we meet up today.  
 **tiny pizza table:** i know. i’m aout to pass out now. o just wanted to change the chat up before i logged out.  
 **Pixar Mom** : Please do. You’re making… interesting typos.  
 **tiny pizza table** : oh. i really am./  
 **tiny pizza table** : sleep tiem  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _12:06pm: **PrinceType** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**PrinceType** : Hello everyone. Today we’ll be attempting to enter Sae-san’s palace. To expedite the process we’ll meet in front of the courthouse today after school.  
 **twink bara** : where is that?  
 **sensual keystroke** : i’ll give u a hint: the government office district~  
 **Sexy Lobster Artist** : Kasumigaseiki…  
 **PrinceType** : Right.  
 **The Hot Class Prez** : Okay. Everyone needs to make sure they’re ready today.  
 **BigBootyCarrot** : I will be!  
 **glasses kink** : i’ll be ready. just don’t ask me to talk.  
 **PrinceType** : What’s wrong?  
 **glasses kink** : throat sore from practicing my deep throating. ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)  
 **sensual strawberries** : AKIRA D;LKAHSDGLASHDG NO!!!!  
 **PrinceType** : …  
 **glasses kink** : futaba and i had an epic game off and i screamed myself hoarse.  
 **twink bara** : bro  
 **glasses kink** : i needed to get the stress out.  
 **PrinceType** : I hope you’re not lying…  
 **glasses kink** : lying about what?  
 **PrinceType** : About why your throat is sore. If you’re sick again we should wait.  
 **glasses kink** : i’m in perfect health and even if i wasn’t, i can at least figure out keywords.  
 **The Hot Class Prez** : It would be better for us all to know so, yes. I agree.  
 **Sexy Lobster Artist** : If he’s lying I’ll carry him home myself.  
 **glasses kink** : i’m being wood.  
 **glasses kink** : hm.  
 **glasses kink** : wooed?  
 **glasses kink** : woo’d?  
 **glasses kink** : help.  
 **PrinceType** : Wooed.  
 **The Hot Class Prez** : Wooed.  
 **glasses kink** : thank you smart people.  
 **twink bara** : arent you a smart people?  
 **twink bara** : ur like… top of our class and like… second overall in the school?  
 **glasses kink** : not today i’m not.  
 **twink bara** : fair  
 **twink bara** : ok were meeting at the courthouse is it safe to tho?  
 **PrinceType** : It’ll be fine.  
 **PrinceType** : No one knows our identities yet so we can move freely.  
 **The Hot Class Prez** : If we’re stopped about why we’re around we can simply say we’re part of our school paper and Akechi-kun is leading us around.  
 **PrinceType** : Yes.  
 **Sexy Lobster Artist** : I’ll be there to provide art for your article.  
 **glasses kink** : we got a plan team. let’s get this palace done!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The 29th approached faster than Akira was ready for. He hadn’t seen Akechi since the night they had played billiards and it was probably a good thing. Akira needed time to not only heal his throat but also calm his nerves. He needed to face Akechi and pretend nothing was wrong. 

Takemi gave him great medication to help heal his throat but anything for hanahaki treatment was pretty much out the window. She had nothing left that would be able to help him so he had to just work with what he had. Akira made his way to the diet building with the others ending up meeting all at once.

“And we’re here.” Akira announced in his strained voice as they approached Akechi who was waiting for them. “Any new info on the investigation?” 

“Yes actually. There’s hearsay that a full investigation will occur on the twentieth at Shujin and the Sakura residence.” Akechi answered. 

“For… real?” Futaba gasped. 

“That just means our time limit is November twentieth.” Yusuke looked troubled. 

“There’s a lot of red tape involved in the investigation so there won’t be anything happening before then.” Akechi explained. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take our time to chart our course so we should be quick.”

“Alright, let’s figure out these keywords.” Akechi took out his phone,” Sae Niijima,” Akechi said getting a confirmation from the Nav,” district courthouse,” another confirmation,” so what would she think of this place as?” 

“Well, I hear her refer to it as a place of competition where she must always win.” Makoto explained. “I doubt it would be something like a sports stadium, she’s not the type for it.” 

“Maybe a martial-arts ring?” Yusuke suggested but the Nav didn’t accept it. It was worth a try. You did say your father taught you both.” 

“He did.” Makoto nodded. 

“There’s more competitions than just sports.” Akechi noted. 

“Gambling then?” Futaba suggested. 

“Maybe a racetrack or pachinko arcade?” Ann suggested with nothing pinging. 

“The only option left is a ‘casino.’” Makoto said sure of her answer and the Nav agreed with her. “I knew it.” 

“Alright, let’s get in there and figure out what we’re dealing with.” Akechi announced before hitting the Nav button to bring them into the Metaverse.

Walking along after activation made everything seem normal, but when they looked at Morgana he was clearly in his Metaverse form. In the distance they could see the top of a bright neon sign indicating that the palace was nearby. So much of the office district looked normal though. Would they be able to use that? An idea was starting to play out in Akira’s head as they approached the casino building that was Sae Niijima’s palace. 

It was brightly lit and reached far higher into the sky than any other building around them. Akira had doubts that this was the real height of the courthouse but in Sae’s world, it was the highest and thus the most important.

Clearly going in through the front door wasn’t going to fly so the group found a place with an open gate off to the side to make a plan. “This is certainly an impressive distortion. It looks just like a Vegas casino doesn’t it?” Yusuke looked up at the building then around them. 

“Yes… everywhere else is a normal cityscape.” Akechi noted. 

“So then that would be the police station right?” Yusuke pointed to one building in the distance.

“That’s right. They’re pretty close to one another and sis works with the police pretty often...” Makoto explained, probably getting her own ideas. 

“Our attire hasn’t changed.” Akechi noted. “I suppose we won’t be considered threats until we’re inside. That being said, we should look for our entry point.” 

“Right,” Akira looked around,” I see some stairs over that way, let’s try and see if we can find a back access point to sneak in.” Akira motioned for the group to follow him as he started a light jog toward the stairs to find a way up. The first few flights went fine for Akira but after the third his lungs were starting to protest. He ignored the burning feeling in favor of getting to the top and trying to act as normal as possible as he jumped a small gap to make his way to some doors he could see just ahead. 

Once inside their clothes changed to their Phantom Thieves attire right away,” looks like we just needed to get inside.” Akechi noted looking around. “There are quite a number of cognitions here that look just like normal people.”

“Well, at least sis still sees people as people then.” Makoto sighed,” It’ll make it easier to spot the shadows.” What else could they use that for?

“Right, let’s head in, remember our deadline here is November nineteenth. Any later, and we’ll get caught in reality.” Morgana looked around at everyone. “We should still be careful, pacing yourself is important.” 

“Got it.” Akira agreed. “Let’s go.” 

After jumping along the sturdy chandeliers and ceiling art the group made it to the second area only to be confronted by Sae’s shadow. She told them where to find the treasure and how. She wanted to play a game and Akira wasn’t sure he was willing to play it. They had other things to worry about as well. 

After Sae left they were forced to fight a large shadow when trying to follow after her. The group split off to circle the beast to try taking it down safely. As luck had it for Akira though, the shadow rather liked him. The duel-sword wielding creature came after him repeatedly, forcing him to retreat more and more even as Haru’s persona unleashed a barrage of bullets and Akechi attacked with his laser sword. 

Maybe the shadow could sense how weak Akira was compared to everyone else? Maybe it knew that if it wanted to do real harm it needed to kill him, or maybe this was already Akechi’s plan to kill him somehow? That last one made no sense but the thought bothered him enough that Akira ended up slipping during another black flip dodge. His foot slipped out from causing him to fall on his ass before his head snapped back to smack into the ground making him see stars.

He could make out people crying for him to move out of the way before a loud bang and a flash of white across Akira’s vision gave way to smoke. He heard the loud sound of a body slamming into another but he couldn’t make out what was going on. Akira pushed himself up to look around, trying to find sight of someone else in the smoke.

It was too thick to see anyone clearly but he could hear his name called. He was going to answer back that he was okay, but a crack of red lightning drew his attention to the middle of the room where the smoke was wafting from. There was a garbled scream that sounded as if it were from a shadow then a strong gust began to blow the smoke out of the way. 

When the smoke cleared and the gust died down Morgana’s persona stood behind him with Akechi standing in the middle where the dying shadow had been heard. Akira had sworn for a second he had seen another persona behind him as the smoke cleared, something black and white striped, but as Akira tried to focus on it Robin Hood was there instead in a stace as if he had just shot an arrow and one gold arrow sunk into the floor. After a few seconds Robin Hood vanished and took his arrow with him. 

“I think we should call it a day here.” Akechi turned to look back at Akira still on the floor before he walked over to help him to his feet.

“I’m fine.” Akira insisted.

“You’re clearly not.” Akechi countered sharply.

“That was a bit too unexpected.” Makoto moved in close followed by everyone else. “Let’s withdraw for now and make a plan for tomorrow. She’s expecting us so we need to be ready for that too.” 

“Fine.” Akira sighed before pulling away from Akechi. “I can walk on my own.” Akira then began the task of leaving the palace. This was the worst. His head was warning him to be cautious, but his heart was saying Akechi just saved his life. What had that other persona been? Was it a trick of the light? There was too much Akira didn’t understand and he didn’t know how much time he had.

“Kurusu!” Akechi’s voice cut through his thoughts to yank him back. Everyone else had gone ahead so it was just them. They did say that they wanted Akira to still try with him. He doubted they were completely alone at least. “What is going on with you? You’re not this weak.” 

“I’m not weak. I was just caught off guard.” Akira snapped trying to rip his arm free but Akechi refused to let him go. “I slipped!”

“Slipping can get you killed!” Akechi was upset with him. Big fucking deal. What was he so mad about if he was going to supposedly try killing him? Akira had to take a mental step back as the feeling of a hanahaki attack came at him now. There was still the chance that Akechi was being blackmailed. Akira needed to give him a chance, it didn’t stop him from being mad still.

“I won’t do it again so don’t worry about me.” Akira turned to leave but Akechi tightened his grip on Akira’s arm. This time Akira pulled harder and got free to snap,” stop fucking touching me.” Akechi stared at him wide eyed, probably surprised that Akira had yelled at him. Akira knew he was probably reacting too harshly but was pissed still. “You’re the one who said you’re leaving after this.” Akira was feeling petty. “Stop pretending you give a shit.” 

Before Akechi could say anything else to him Akira ran. He ran out of the palace, past his waiting friends, all the way out of the Metaverse and to the train station before he was forced to stop.

He found a place to hide as far from the entrance as he could to cough up another bright red, bloody, camellia. This one came with a stem. “Not long now huh?” Akira said bitterly before throwing the flower in the trash as the train came to a stop. He looked over to see that Ryuji and Yusuke had caught up to him with his bag and seemingly Morgana from the way it wiggled. Akira said nothing as he reached a thumb up to clear away the blood from the corner of his mouth then got onto the train at one end as they jumped in on another to make their way to him. 

“Are you okay?” Yusuke asked, sitting next to Akira once they caught up to him. 

“We need to find out what’s going on with him.” Akira buried his hands in his hair. “I can’t figure out how to talk to him like this. I’m pissed and I’m scared at the same time.” 

“We know bro.” Ryuji promised. “Just… don’t freak out again.” 

“No promises.” Akira shook his head. “I think… I might be dead before Sae-san’s investigation. One way or another I’m going to end up dead if we can’t figure this out.” 

“I already have some ideas for making Akechi think he’s succeeded.” Morgana poked out from the bag on Yusuke’s shoulder. “Just hang in there okay?” 

“Mona, if he really is going to kill me then there’s no way I’m not going to die.” Akira explained. “The hanahaki is going to bloom in my chest or whatever way he plans to take me out will get to me.” Akira looked from the cat to the other two with him. “If we’re wrong about him maybe being blackmailed, I’m dead.”

____________________________________________________________

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _8:06pm: **PrinceType** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**PrinceType** : Good work today getting into the palace.  
 **PrinceType** : Tomorrow we need to push in deeper. Tonight, take time to recover and plan.  
 **BigBootyCarrot** : Agreed.  
 **Sexy Lobster Artist** : We should be careful not to make it a daily trip or we might draw attention.  
 **sensual keystroke** : i’d say plain clothes will be less attention drawing but we’re a bunch of kids.  
 **twink bara** : yeah just walking around we look suspicious  
 **PrinceType** : That’s true.  
 **The Hot Class Prez** : I think we should try again in a few days instead. Let’s aim for the first.  
 **sensual strawberries:** won’t that be a waste of what days we have?  
 **PrinceType** : I don’t think so. I wanted to suggest that even after we secure the route to the treasure we should wait until just before the deadline to act.  
 **The Hot Class Prez** : Why?  
 **PrinceType** : Sae-san is a strong individual, you know that as well as I do. If given a calling card too hastily there’s a chance that it won’t have any effect on her heart.  
 **The Hot Class Prez** : I see… You do have a point.  
 **Sexy Lobster Artist** : So if we wait until we’re at the last moments her stress levels will be high enough that the card will work, correct?  
 **PrinceType** : I believe so.  
 **PrinceType** : I assume that Sae-san’s agitation will be at its peak then, so it would be impossible for her, even with her guarded heart, not to respond properly.  
 **sensual keystroke** : ok! we’ll secure the treasure route then send the card on the 19th?  
 **PrinceType** : Yes. Kurusu, your thoughts?  
 **glasses kink:** 👍  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _8:32pm:_ **Pixar Mom __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Pixar Mom:** I think that we bought some time to look around Sis’ palace for some ideas.  
 **tiny pizza table** : i caught another call between akechi and that shido guy.  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad:** Careful.  
 **tiny pizza table** : no it’s good.  
 **jojo reference** : ???  
 **tiny pizza table** : well it’s good enough.  
 **tiny pizza table** : he told shido he’s got a plan that’ll be carried out on the 19th.  
 **tiny pizza table:** part of it involves getting akira caught and arrested.  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad** : Why?  
 **tiny pizza table** : to boost shido’s ‘image’ or something.  
 **tiny pizza table** : so akira will get arrested, then he’ll mysteriously die in police custody.  
 **tiny pizza table** : from the way shido was saying it he expects akechi to pull the trigger himself.  
 **tiny pizza table** : the important thing to take away from this is that we have time.  
 **Pixar Mom** : That is good news.  
 **my gf is hotter than urs** : so what do we do?  
 **jojo reference** : we can do a couple things.  
 **jojo reference** : right now i want to focus on charting a route to the treasure.  
 **jojo reference** : since he wants us to wait to send the card we have plenty of time to explore the area after we do that.  
 **jojo reference** : and since makoto suggested we take a little time before we go back in we can poke around now.  
 **Pixar Mom** : Yes. I want to get a look at the police station. If they’re going to arrest Akira then I think the best bet is to form a plan around there.  
 **tiny pizza table** : oooo i think i see where your mind is heading.  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad** : ?  
 **Pixar Mom** : I want to look around before we make any solid suggestions.  
 **jojo reference** : I’m going too.  
 **Pixar Mom** : Are you sure?  
 **jojo reference** : I need to help somehow. I fell on my ass yesterday and I just can’t sit around feeling sorry for myself.  
 **banana_hammock** : ill tag along too.  
 **Pixar Mom** : I’d like Futaba along too. That should be all we go in with tomorrow.  
 **jojo reference** : Agreed. Everyone else act normal.  
 **my gf is hotter than urs** : got it!  
 **T & Tea**: I’ll be careful to be normal!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_Oct. 31st_ **

**_ STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _4:55pm:_ **jojo reference __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**jojo reference** : alright guys.  
 **jojo reference** : from what we know and what we can use, assuming i don’t choke to death before the deadline we have a pretty complicated plan to go for.  
 **tiny pizza table:** i’m going to send everyone a file that details what we’re going to do.  
 **tiny pizza table** : the important thing here is that we need to follow it exactly unless akechi does something wild like saves akira this is what we’re going to do.  


**tiny pizza table has shared a file.**

**tiny pizza table** : take some time to read it over. if you have questions, direct them at akira or makoto. i’m going to be too busy writing the program we’re going to need to pull this off.  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad** : This is thirty pages.  
 **banana_hammock** : how many pages of memes are there?  
 **tiny pizza table** : none ryuji. this is serious. memes are for later.  
 **banana_hammock** : sorry  
 **my gf is hotter than urs** : how many contingency plans did you shove into this?  
 **tiny pizza table** : like twenty. a lot can go wrong.  
 **jojo reference** : the last three pages include plans in the event of me dying.  
 **jojo reference** : it’s morbid and it sucks but we need to have those plans. there’s stuff about if i die before the mission, after the mission, and depending on what kills me.  
 **Pixar Mom** : To summarize one detail, if Akira can’t make it to the end, we ignore Akechi’s suggestion on when to steal Sis’ heart and we go for it earlier.  
 **jojo reference** : yeah.  
 **T & Tea:** ):  
 **jojo reference** : don’t look at me with those sad eyes haru.  
 **jojo reference** : you’re the only girl i’d be het for.  
 **T & Tea**: (´•ω•̥`)  
 **my gf is hotter than urs** : wow i can’t believe you’re going to fake cheat on me with haru.  
 **jojo reference** : can’t we just be poly so no one gets hurt?  
 **tiny pizza table:** i’m down for that!  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad:** To share so much love between one another is admirable.  
 **Pixar Mom:** Okay Poly Thieves of Hearts, let’s calm down here and get ready for tomorrow.  
 **jojo reference:** if i fall on my face again please refer to plan 45-C where i jump in front of a train.  
 **banana_hammock:** bro…  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The following day the party made their way back into Sae’s palace. After obtaining the players club card they found themselves goaded on by Sae. She told them to play the games to win their way to the right to fight her. It was dumb but Akira was glad that it seemed most of this palace was going to be playing gambling games. It wouldn’t require fighting and he could keep up with that.

They were given a seed of a thousand chips to start with then set off to try earning more to buy the card for the next floor. The battle to the top wasn’t as forward as any of them had hopped though. The blatant cheating led the party around the back to find the rigged machines and put a top to them. Akira had an easier time fighting today at least so Akechi didn’t try to pull him aside to talk to him again. It was either that or maybe their last conversation left a bad enough taste in both of their mouths that they just wanted to avoid any talking they could. 

There was a clear divide between Akechi and the group when it came to how to actually handle dealing with the cheating. Most of the team just wanted to remove the rigging and play it fair, Akechi wanted to put it in their favor instead. It made sense, and honestly Akira wasn’t completely against the idea of putting it in their favor but he wasn’t going to admit that now. Siding with Akehci in anything made him uncomfortable. God he really was as good as dead wasn’t he? 

By the time they managed to get the fifty thousand they needed to buy the member card Akira felt the divide between the two of them growing wider. It made him uneasy and there was at least one time he had to pretend to get lost to pick a flower out of his mouth to throw into some shitty card urn they’d just finish searching for a half deck of cards.

The day came to a screeching halt once they finally did manage to reach the manager’s floor for the high rollers. They needed to gain access, but the only way they would be able to do that was to get Sae to see them in the courthouse.

“Looks like this is where we’ll end it today.” Akechi looked around at the party. 

“Seems like it.” Makoto looked troubled. 

“I’ll get in touch with my contacts and find out when Sae-san is having a trial we can attend.” Akechi announced. “Just keep an open schedule. I don’t know when I’ll get that information and we might have to move at the drop of a hat.” 

“Right.” Haru agreed and then they left the palace. 

Unlike the last time they had been in the palace Akechi left Akira alone once they were on their way out. A part of Akira had hoped he was going to try to patch things up but that wasn’t the case now was it? It was his fault, he had told Akechi to stop pretending he gave a shit. 

Did he give himself away? No, Akechi was still covering him in fights and snapping him out of status ailments. That’s what Akira had to tell himself at least. Akechi was supposedly going to kill him and could do so very easily. The only thing that made sense for why he was waiting for a good moment was to make the impact of Akira’s death mean something. If he died in any way outside of being in police custody it would lose its impact. 

To take his mind off of the worst of things Akira made his way to the street entrance for the Velvet Room in Shibuya. He needed to present some more persona to the twins and he wanted to see how full the flower over Igor’s head had gotten. 

After getting painfully kicked in as normal from Caroline, Akira looked up to see the flower over Igor’s head was in essence full. He probably didn’t have a whole lot longer. Maybe days if he was lucky. He could check in with Takemi to make sure but he wasn’t going to put her through needing to tell him he was dead. Hell, Takemi had mentioned that he would need to go into the hospital when it got too much for his lungs to handle. It was probably something of a last stop scenario and he was not going to do it. He had important things to do.

“Your sickness has gotten much worse.” Igor noted motioning around the room, bringing Akira’s attention to the flowers now almost bursting from the cells. There were vines of camellias wrapped around all of the equipment and Justine was currently taking a chainsaw in a circle around Igor to keep the plant life from touching him. 

Once she was done she returned to Caroline’s side to look at Akira with irritation all over her face. “We can’t use any of the equipment like this, Inmate.” Justine explained. “We’ll be unable to assist with your rehabilitation until you solve this problem.” 

“Well… shit.” Akira frowned. “I don’t think I can do it.” Akira hung his head. “The person this bloomed for wants me dead.” He admitted. “Or he might not? It’s confusing.” 

“You’d better make sure of that before you come whining in here!” Caroline snapped. “Listen up inmate, we can’t do our jobs until you get rid of all these flowers! So suck it up and do something about it already!” 

“Yeah, I’ll get on that.” Akira sighed. “Listen, I taught Seth High Counter.” Akira held his hand out, a ghost of his mask appearing in his hand for the girls to inspect.

“Even being unable to use the equipment you managed to complete your task.” Justine acknowledged sounding actually impressed. 

“I can’t believe this.” Caroline gasped. 

“This isn’t the proper thing to say to an inmate but you have done extraordinary work.” Justine nodded. “You should be proud.”

“You might be a pain in the ass but I’ll give you credit where it’s due.” Caroline agreed with Justine. 

“You’ve completed all of your tasks. There is nothing else to have to accomplish in this regard.” Justine checked her clipboard. “As the ones who rule over power, our role is… uh…” Justine paused mid speech looking confused,” rule over power? Why did I say that?” Suddenly Justine was gripping the side of her head saying something about a voice in her head. 

Caroline suddenly looked very worried for her sister as she reached out to touch her shoulder. Before she could connect Justine pulled away from her claiming nothing was wrong. She was mumbling something and Akira could only catch parts, something about someone who had first written the list he had completed.

“I can’t remember if it was me that wrote the list… or, no…. us? I’m--” Justine held her head for a bit longer before she forced herself to stand upright despite the pain.

“It’s okay Justine, this happened to me too. It’s his fault!” Caroline slammed her guard stick against the bars.

“If I did anything I’m sorry.” Akira apologized. “I don’t want you two to suffer after I’m gone…” Caroline might have been a little bossy but she was still someone Akira counted as a friend.

“Don’t apologize so easily!” Caroline rolled her eyes. “Ugh, you really are a pain in the ass!” Caroline tapped her foot in irritation before she hit the bars again. “Okay, we’ll grant you the privilege of knowledge so listen up!” 

“Caroline, you don’t have to be so strict with him.” Justine spoke with a smile. “You know you feel the same gratitude I do at his concern.” Justine called Caroline out, making her blush wildly at that. “Inmate, we’re going to grant you one last power but I’m afraid as things are right now you won’t be able to fully utilize it.” Justine held her hand out to send a ball orb toward him.

It sank into his forehead as many other powers did before it. All at once he was familiar with the fact that he would be able to pay cash to fuse personas well out of his battle experience range. Suddenly all the money from shadows made sense.

“I want to say Inmate, you are rather resourceful. I’m sure if you put your mind to it you can find a way out of your current situation.” Caroline assured Akira. “You hold a lot of potential in you, so don’t you dare give up!” Caroline demanded of him. “You can accomplish anything you put your mind to, understand?” 

“I’ll do my best.” Akira smiled softly. 

“Trickster… I believe in you.” Caroline smiled. “Prove to us that you can reach the truth.” 

“Don’t let us down, Akira.” Justine used his name which surprised him. Akira had half thought they didn’t even know it. “You can still avoid ruin and death.” 

“Now I have to make sure I try.” Akira teased. “Thanks guys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a somewhat shorter chapter than the last few but if i didn't make it shorter than the next one would just be a huge cliffhanger instead so... i make my choices. also i told people b4 i would be updating on monday, i'm full of shit. every time i try to say "im updating on these days!" i get bored and decide "i'm updating when i fucking feel like it" which seems to be consistantly a few days after the last chapter was posted. so, yeah. i take back anything about when i'll update, i make the rules and the rules are that there are none.
> 
> my ranting about updating aside, hi. welcome to a new chapter. big surprise akira is alive. there's too much fic left for him to die yet. i have clearly put in some changes bc it's fan fiction and atlus can suck an egg if they think they can stop me from putting akechi in a different situation. i start going really fuckin' wild with some changes later on too so... w/e. uhhhh 
> 
> new chat with fun new names! we're getting into a part of the fic i had written first. like, this whole zone of things came before any of the preceding chapters so far. if there's a weird consistency thing that would be why. i've tried to catch it all and layer it in cleanly but... yeah. if you find GLARING issues please tell me. i can fix things.
> 
> akira's sense of self preservation is questionable around the middle of this chapter. he wants to believe akechi is being blackmailed, but he's still pissed at him. it's from a place of the fact that if he IS being blackmailed he never told them about it. akira thought they had a level of trust that would mean akechi would trust him more but now that they're in this situation he feels like maybe he missed something somewhere. ):
> 
> the last thing i want to mention is about the large flower growing in the velvet room. i realize i said it was growing over a light fixture but upon actually looking at the room it's the alarm speakers that's over igor's head. so that was a mistake on my part. i can't remember if i decided to fix it or leave it. i might just leave it vauge. either way, i know the mistake is there.
> 
> thanks for reading and i hope you look forward to the next. it's one of my favorites! i swear the previews will get longer after the next chapter.
> 
> preview:  
>  _“I’m going to be entirely honest with you: I hate you.”_


	23. bloom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akira makes an important decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here it comes fam.

It took a few more days for Akechi to give them a call about a trial Sae was overseeing that he’d be able to get them into without it being weird. Akira didn’t really pay attention to what the trial was about. His focus was on what the twins had told him. 

They told him he needed to give things an honest try with Akechi or he was going to end up dead. A month ago he wouldn’t have cared less. Akira was just going to leave the team in Akechi’s hands and they could finish things off. But then the truth came out and Akira couldn’t think of a more dangerous thing for him to do. 

Yes, Akira was lacking significant information. There was the chance that Akechi was being blackmailed. However, when Akira tried to piece together how it would work and why Akechi wouldn’t tell his own team he couldn’t find anything. 

There was also the question of who the hell Shido was. How did he know about Akechi and his connection with the Phantom Thieves? The only thing that Akira could figure was that this Shido had maybe seen them somehow? Akechi would have told them though. There was too much that Akira was unsure of and he was sure _that_ was the reason his hanahaki hadn’t just killed him yet.

At this point Akira was worried that maybe Akechi was trying to shoulder something stupid on his own. Honestly it was something Akira could relate to closely. He too tried to take on too much and only let up some of the burden when someone offered to take it from him. Akira was stuck in a limbo that he wouldn’t be able to get out of until he got the truth out of Akechi. A truth he needed to try getting out of him soon or Akira was just going to die without solving anything.

This was the thought Akira had in his head as he sat himself two seats away from Akechi, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye now and again to watch him. He didn’t spare a glance at Akira which hurt a little. He had been flirting so much before but now he and Akira had been silent between one another.

Despite the recording Akira still had to admit that he was drawn to Akechi. For some reason the thought of getting murdered by him wasn’t as strong a deterrent as some might have thought it would be. The loudest voice in Akira’s head told him that if he wanted to have any chance at living he needed to just tell Akechi the truth. There were only so many things that would happen and most were in his favor in one way or another. He could either get Akechi on his side, or Akira was going to die in a way that wouldn’t benefit whoever the fuck that Shido guy was.

Akira made a mental note that he needed to ask Akechi to speak one more time before the calling card so he could at least control the situation a little. It would go against what they had planned for the palace, but Akira felt like this was what he needed to do on his own. 

__________________________________________

After the trial concluded the party left to head back into Sae’s palace to crawl their way through the next area. It wasn’t hard to find the way up past that either but to move the bridge they needed more coins, a hundred thousand more coins.

With loud complaints from Ryuji, the party returned to the base of the high roller floor to check out their options. The first was a blackout maze. They would get back ten thousand if they completed it. It seemed like the easiest option. Akira’s lucky Third Eye would keep them from running into anything too dangerous at any rate. They knew not to trust anything in this palace from earlier experiences with the rigged dice below. 

After clearing through the maze the attendant tried to fight them in an effort to stop them there. It was an easy fight at least and once it was gone they earned the coins for clearing the maze. A little hiccup but everything was still going smoothly.

Until the next area. 

“Battle arena?” Futaba read the sign above the door. “You don’t think they mean like… fighting right?” 

“Probably.” Ryuji frowned. “Like we’re going to get what we need with actual luck. If it’s a fight they want then bring it on. I’m better at brute forcing my way through things anyway!”

“That’s true.” Ann teased earning a growl from Ryuji.

“This should be fine. Fighting is easy.” Akira rolled his eyes a little as he stepped forward to take them inside. Fighting wasn’t easy. His lungs were basically on fine constantly but there were fewer flowers coming up. He really hoped he could last the night. 

As soon as the door closed behind them the shadow attendant in this area greeted them by announcing they were expected. Akira hated when they did that. It wasn’t so surprising that the party was in the palace. Of course they were expected. The dramatics here were poor honestly.

Despite it being obvious that the shadow was just trying to rile them up, Ryuji became instantly defensive. The shadow clapped gleefully. “Quick to anger? Good. This wouldn’t be as fun if you weren’t. Before I continue you’ll have to answer me, do you have ten thousand chips?” 

“We do!” Haru answered happily. 

“Good! Allow me to explain this game to you then,” the shadow pointed to the cagey door behind them,” here you will prove your supremacy in a trio of fierce one-on-one battles. As this is the pinnacle of our casino, the high limit floor, normally our VIPs would prepare substitutes to fight to death in their place,” Akira knew where this was going, the last shadow attendant had pulled the same shit about subs,” but as you have no means for that you’ll have to fight for your own sakes.” 

“This whole floor is like this is it?” Akechi shook his head. He was clearly just as irritated as Akira was and it made him laugh. They really were so alike. “It makes sense when you think about it though. Those in higher positions often send their employees to do the dirty work for them. If it falls though the puppet takes the repercussions of the actions while the one who placed the order is left unharmed.” Akechi explained sounding almost annoyed and Akira felt something in him shift.

Akechi’s words sounded pointed as if speaking from experience and after a few seconds Akira turned to look at Akechi already looking at him. Was he trying to hint at what was going on with him? But then that suggested that Akechi was working for someone who was ordering him around. Applying this rational to the current situation answered some questions but left a wider hole in many others. 

“It’s a common business strategy.” Akechi added on after Akira continued to stare at him. 

“Business strategy or not we have to fight.” Akira said, shifting to turn away from Akechi again. He needed to be careful. He couldn’t give it away now. He wanted to talk to him again, alone.

“Correct. You can register at the table over there.” The shadow pointed. “Farewell. I doubt we’ll see each other again.” After that the creature burst apart to melt into the floor.

“Wonderful.” Akira rolled his eyes then made his way over to the counter. “We’d like to register for the arena.” 

“We?” The dealer questioned. “There won’t be any team matches here. This is a series of honest one-on-one battles. You’ll have to pick just one person to act as your representative. If you win you earn one-hundred thousand coins. The cost to play each time is ten thousand coins. Will you be registering?” 

“This feels like a trap.” Akechi said. “Just one of us? They figure they can’t kill us as a group so they might try to do the deed when we’re solo.” 

“The only one who might stand a chance is Joker.” Ryuji kicked his foot flipping over some of the cards on the ground. “He can adapt unlike the rest of us.”

“I can use items to overcome weaknesses. I’ll go.” Akechi stepped forward giving Akira yet another reason to wonder about him. Why would he offer himself up for such an obvious trap? Sure Akechi could cover himself in a fight by using items but not as effectively as Akira could. This was just another tick on the box of ‘something is wrong with Akechi’ with the ever growing list of reasons Akira was starting to have about any actual murder happening.

“No, Skull is right.” Akira put his hand up. “I’ve got the adaptability to counter any foe without having to fumble around in my pockets.” Akira took the member’s card from his pocket to make a point before he put it on the counter. “I’ll be going.”

“You’re sure you’re strong enough for this?” Akechi stepped closer to take hold of Akira’s upper arm to make him pause. “I can do this in your stead. You’ve been having trouble breathing still.” 

“Not so much that I can’t do this. I’ll be fine, Crow.” Akira insisted, trying to pull his arm free. As with the last time Akechi had grabbed Akira he held on firmly until Akira stared at him. For a minute the two of them just looked at one another until Akira finally spoke,” if I take a knee just break the arena open and burn the building down for me.” Akira winked. He wanted to dispel some of the tension between them.

It seemed to work as Akechi let out a sigh then released him. He was worried about Akira. Hopefully for a good reason. Akira shot the party a smile as he approached the doors. He had to admit he was nervous, but this would be the proof he needed in order to know if he really was back in fighting shape.

“Be careful Joker.” Yusuke requested. 

“That’s my title, Careful Joker.” Akira laughed once before he made his way down the hall as the doors closed behind him. 

Once Akira was in the arena and the announcer made his initial call, two shadows appeared. Akira’s eyes rolled hard at this, because of course they were playing by the rules while these cognitions didn’t. It was fine. He had strong personas on his side.

The first fight was a breeze, Akira hit them right in the weakness, but for the third fight there were even more foes and they had long claws. He remembered these shadows, they had a weakness to bless attacks. Akira swallowed thickly at this memory because those were attacks he didn’t have because Akechi had them. Why hadn’t he thought to cover his ass for this? He didn’t even have items to emulate bless to knock them down. This was bad. 

Akira had no choice but to fight with everything at his disposal. Which was just a lot of running and dodging where he could. Akira managed to come out of the match only looking a little ragged. His long coat was partially in shreds and he had a bleeding trio of cuts along his left arm. He had a dia spell in his available magic but before he could summon one to heal him the next shadow came 

It was just one, but it was massive. Akira wasn’t sure what it was nor what it’s weaknesses were, so it was time to start picking through the elements. He attacked with his dagger first, which gave him nothing. He could actually feel the metal of his weapon bounce off of the shadow’s armor. It was a solid hit, but it didn’t knock the hammer wielding monster on it’s ass. Next he tried his gun only to be met with a similar result. 

As he attacked Akira noted that the shadow was powering up for a big hit. He just needed to be faster to avoid getting smashed with that hammer. Akira changed to Seth to try out a fire attack but as he did the hammer wielding shadow turned on him to bring its hammer around to try catching Akira at his side. It was too fast and there was no time to dodge. He was in danger.

From somewhere nearby Akira could hear everyone shout for him, loudest of all was Akechi. Akira squeezed his eyes shut to prepare himself for the damage but it never came, instead Seth manifested to counter the charged up blow to send it back at the shadow. The damage done was significant enough to put the shadow on it’s back.

As it struggled to get back up after it’s rebounded attack Akira’s hand twitched. He remembered he needed to finish this, so he quickly drew his gun to empty the rest of his clip into the shadow’s body causing it to finally die. The fight was over and Akira was allowed to leave the arena albeit on slightly wobbly feet. He still hadn’t healed himself yet.

Once he made his way back to the lobby Ryuji threw himself on Akira in a shout of glee. Morgana summoned his persona to heal Akira before Ryuji's excitement could make his wounds worse.

“They never planned on making that a fair fight!” Ann said anger in her voice. “You were amazing though! You really had me worried in that last fight!” 

“It was nothing! Just another flawless fight.” Akira flashed them a smile but he was actually a little terrified of what just happened. He had almost died there. He’d spent the last six or so months telling himself he wasn’t scared of dying but now he almost had and it left him shaken. He didn’t want to die. He wanted to live.

“You would have died if your persona hadn’t countered that attack.” Akechi said coldly, drawing Akira’s attention to him. Was he mad? “A victory on pure luck is…” Akechi let out a long irritated sigh,” fitting for a casino.” Akira wondered if he could use that luck again with Akechi.

“I was going to point that out if you hadn’t.” Akira’s lip’s turned up into an amused smile stamping down his fear in favor of just moving on. “Now let’s get that prize and find that treasure.” Akira returned to the dealer to get the prize coin loaded before he led them back out to the bridge.

Once there Sae tried to change the rules on them, but from some forward thinking on Akechi’s behalf they were able to outsmart her and get the bridge to shift in their favor. Once they crossed the bridge they found the cloudy light they all knew to be Sae’s treasure. 

“We’ve secured our route.” Akechi announced. “Now all there is left to do is wait.” 

“It feels weird to wait…” Ann shifted,” are we sure it’s the right thing to do?” 

“Yes. We need to recover from today, as well as prepare our equipment on top of making sure the calling card will have an effect.” Akechi explained. “We’ll make this our finest heist yet.” 

“Right.” Akira muttered, staring into the fog of the treasure. He could almost make out what was in the shimmery ball. It looked like a notebook of some kind. Makoto confirmed his guess after a few seconds of silence.

“We’ll change her heart Makoto.” Akira promised. “For now let’s head out and recoup.” 

“Yes.” Makoto agreed and out they went. 

____________________________________________________________

_** STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _6:18pm:_ **tiny pizza table __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**tiny pizza table** : i am so tired…  
**banana_hammock** : yeah that was a long day  
**Bob Ross is my Dad:** Akira are you alright?  
**jojo reference** : i’m fine. between high counter doing its job and you guys covering my ass to spit out flowers i’m in perfect health.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : i was really worried about you there.  
**Pixar Mom** : We all were.  
**jojo reference** : i promise i’m okay.  
**T & Tea:** So all we do now is wait, right?  
**Pixar Mom** : Sadly yes. We need Akechi to think he has the upper hand or like he’s still in control. We can set all of this right so long as we know nothing has changed.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : I’m more worried about Akira’s hanahaki than anything else honestly.  
**jojo reference** : it’s fine.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad:** It most certainly is not!  
**jojo reference** : i don’t exactly have a plan, but i’m going to say i have a plan.  
**banana_hammock** : and that is?  
**jojo reference:** let me worry about that.  
**tiny pizza table:** he doesn’t have a plan.  
**jojo reference:** i do.  
**jojo reference** : but it’s a stupid one so i can’t tell you all.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : Hm.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : (¬_¬)  
**jojo reference:** Let me control at least one thing in my own life right now guys.  
**banana_hammock** : fine… but if you need back up im your guy  
**jojo reference** : my bro.  
**banana_hammock** : yeah bro ilu  
**jojo reference** : ilu2.  
**Pixar Mom** : When do you plan on committing to this plan of yours?  
**jojo reference** : as soon as i can get him to talk to me alone for like… more than fire minutes. it’s going to take a lot of long pauses and nerves of steel.  
**T & Tea**: I believe in you!  
**jojo reference** : thank you. that’s all the belief i need right there.  
**jojo reference** : I love you all.  
**jojo reference:** You’re the best friends I could ever have asked for.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira spent the free time he had now trying to rest and plan out what he was going to say. He’d lead Akechi to believe he couldn’t get hanahaki so he was going to be mad about that. Akira had also been really snappy with Akechi the last time they’d talked alone in the palace. Akira didn’t have many options for how to come out with it, but he knew that he was going to have to lead with the hanahaki first.

Akira spent his time at school writing his plans out over and over again but finding that none of them were really any good. He kept erasing what he wrote to write something else until he actually tore a hole in his paper. It made him stop to realize that in _every_ scenario, he saw Akechi turning him down. The worrying part about all of the scenes playing in his head was that not a single one was making him cough. He’d suspected something was deadly wrong last night because of how he felt toward the wrap up of that palace but now he was sure. He was in that time frame of do or die.

Facing mortality at such a young age was interesting. He wondered if his family would take his body back or if he was going to be cremated then turned into a dusty decoration in Sojiro’s cafe. Akira wasn’t even sure that Sojiro would want to keep that around. Was there a shrine or something for Wakaba somewhere? Was Akira going to end up next to her? What if his family did take his body back? Would they actually honor him?

Akira hated thinking about all of this.

After school was over Akira spent time with Haru helping her through the last of the bullshit with her old finance. Akira made sure he supported her by just being there when she aked Takakura to help her get rid of Sugimura without losing everything. With that worry gone she had a plan of what she wanted to do with the company and planned to go far with it.

Takakura was more than happy to help her in her endeavor and promised to be rid of her _ex-_ fiance before the end of the day. Once Takakura was gone Haru turned to Akira. There was a short talk before Haru seemed to have such a strong revelation that she awakened to another form of her persona as Yusuke and the others had before her. He really had a knack for this stuff. 

“Feeling better?” Akira asked. 

“Yes.” Haru nodded. “What about you?” 

“Pretty good. Coughing less so maybe the hanahaki shriveled up and died after finding out Akechi probably is going to kill me.” Akira tried to play off but he knew what the truth of the matter was. 

Haru said nothing for a while. She just looked at Akira’s face before smiling softly. “I’d like that to be true.” Haru said with such a sweet voice but her words made Akira suspect she knew he was lying. “What will you do? You said you had a plan of some kind?” 

“It’s a bad plan.” Akira admitted. “If I tell you you have to promise not to tell the others and to let me go through with it.” 

“You’re going to confess to Akechi-kun aren’t you?” Haru asked.

“Promise me.” Akira requested. 

“I promise.” Haru nodded. 

“I’m… yeah. I’m going to end up getting to a confession of some sort.” Akira leaned back on the couch. “I’m at least going to own up to having hanahaki. He’ll be able to figure out what he wants to do from there.” 

“It’s dangerous.” Haru looked sad.

“One way or another I’m going to end up dead soon Haru.” Akira touched his chest. “The flowers are still there, I’m shorter and shorter on breath every day, my lungs are constantly aching, and I’m pretty sure my number is going to be up before the middle of the week.” Akira couldn’t stop himself from feeling especially emotional about his speech. He was starting to tear up actually. 

“None of us has any right in telling you what to do.” Haru shook her head. “I can’t even begin to imagine how you feel about all this.” Haru touched Akira’s shoulder lightly. Her touch was enough to make Akira lean closer to her. Haru then wrapped her arms around Akira to hug him as tightly as she dared, and that was it. Akira couldn’t stop himself from crying now. 

A small part of Akira felt like he hadn’t actually had a hug in centuries. He knew that was a lie, he got hugs from his friends frequently, but somehow time just felt so much longer now. Maybe because he was counting every second as if it were going to be his last?

Crying was not as refreshing as he’d hoped either. When he was back home if he got a good cry out he was back in the proverbial sattle the next day ready to maintain his perfect student appearance. Right now though, all the emotions he’d been keeping bottled up were just pouring out of him now which was making it harder to breathe and in turn making him feel worse. 

He lost track of time, which in his current state was dangerous. By the time he finally stopped crying and got his breath back it was dark outside. He stared out of the large window of Haru’s living room with an odd feeling resting in the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t place exactly what it was though. It could have been dread but the more he thought on it the more he started to feel like it was something else entirely. “Acceptance?” Akira mumbled to himself.

“Accepting what?” Haru asked. She had separated from Akira to make them tea and bring some snacks.

“The situation I guess.” Akira shrugged. “It’s a feeling I got in my gut. Like, I got all the bad out and now I can focus on accepting what’s going to happen.” Akira accepted the tea. “Sorry for getting snot all over your sweater.”

“It’s alright. You said it yourself right? You got all the bad out. All that is left now is to wash it clean and it’ll be gone.” Haru smiled brightly. 

“Haru… you’re amazing.” Akira said, making Haru blush. “I mean it. Whatever anyone says you’re an amazing person and I don’t deserve you as a friend.”

“Please don’t say that.” Haru gave him a sad look. “Being deserving or not isn’t what matters, you know? You supported me after my father’s death and in becoming a better gardener and I argue a better person. You helped make me stronger, so of course I’m going to be there for you when you have your weak moments too.” Haru put her tea down then forced Akira to put his down as well. “You’re my friend and I love you. I want to be there for you. You don’t have to shoulder everything alone.” 

Akira let out a soft sigh before he turned his hands upwards to hold Haru’s. “Thank you, Haru. I love you too.” Akira forced a smile onto his face. “I’m going to tell Akechi I have hanahaki. He’s probably figured out I’ve had a crush on him for a while so the rest will be in his hands. If you see the news about someone dropping dead of hanahaki in Kichijoji in the next oh… 48 hours or so, that’s probably me.” 

“I’ll be the optimist and say you’ll be fine.” Haru shook her head. “I want to believe he’s being blackmailed. I want you to live.” 

“Me too,” Akira nodded then repeated,” me too.”

_________________________________

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _8:27pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : Hey. Do you think you have free time tomorrow? I want to talk to you about something.  
**Goro** : I also have something I wish to discuss with you. Would you mind meeting me in Shibuya in the evening?  
**Akira** : Around six?  
**Goro** : That will work. I’ll see you then.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

After getting home from spending more time with Haru than he meant to Akira finally got the courage to ask Akechi to meet with him. He probably should have asked for Akechi to meet with him sooner but it was too late when he got home and his eyes were very bloodshot from all the crying. Instead of worrying about that he took all the medication he had left and prayed for it to be enough to carry him through. 

The rest of Akira’s evening was spent with Kawakami. She found the state of his eyes concerning, and worried if he was getting enough sleep but didn’t press when Akira asked her not to.

Kawakami had finally realized she was never a bad teacher. She’d done a great job helping Akira where she could with letting him slack off in classes or covering for his hanahaki. Akira was glad she managed to figure out that what happened to her last student wasn’t her fault.

She quit her job as a maid, but promised to still help Akira out since she remembered how hard it was to be a student. Not only that, but because his hanahaki probably made it hard for him to actually do any proper cleaning. At least she was going to help him for free for now on. It was a nice way to spend this last free night with Kawakami. All he needed to do now was survive his hanahaki somehow. 

_______________________________________

Sunday morning left him with little to do until Kasumi messaged him to hang out. So he spent some time with Kasumi at the batting cage near the cafe. She had a lot of energy to burn off which was good for her but she was terrible at hitting the ball. Akira on the other hand had gotten pretty good at it. He was able to actually hit them all without pushing himself too hard. Morgana _had_ said that raising his dexterity was important as a thief and that seemed to pay off. He played a few rounds with Kasumi before he went home to get ready for the night. 

“Mona, I’m going to meet with Akechi in a little bit. I’m going to go alone.” Akira announced, earning an alarmed look from the not-cat. “I’ll be safe.” 

“This is part of your _plan,_ I take it?” Morgana questioned Akira. 

“Yes.” Arkira confirmed. “If I don’t show back up tonight tell Futaba to track my phone or something. If you can’t find my body… I left a note behind.” Akira motioned to his desk before he pulled on his jacket. 

“That’s not funny! You shouldn’t be meeting with him alone.” Morgana did not look impressed. He thought Akira was joking and Akira didn’t have the heart to tell him that he wasn’t.

“I know, but I’m going to try to get my hanahaki out, and I don’t think I can try that with you there too. I have to do it now.” Akira touched his chest. “I haven’t coughed in the last two days but my chest hurts more than ever. I haven’t seen Takemi, and I’m too scared to look it up but I’m pretty sure that this means I’m about at the end of my time.” Akira explained. “I won’t make it to the end of this palace. Hell, I don’t think I’ll make it to the end of this week. When that hammer shadow nearly killed me the other day I started to think that I’m actually terrified of dying.

“I talked big at the start of it but I think that was just because of what I’d been through already. It made me numb and made me not give a shit anymore. Like, my parents discarded me, all my _friends_ back home didn’t want to talk to me, I was completely alone. But with you and everyone else in my life I just… I can’t lay down and suffocate quietly. So I’m going to try. This either ends with me coming out alive, or I mess up whatever plan he’s got and die in Shibuya instead.” Akira moved to Morgana to give the not-cat a careful hug. “You’ve been the best not-cat ever.” 

“Please come back.” Morgana rubbed his head against Akira’s chest.

“I don’t have a say in that.” Akira laughed bitterly. “I love you Mona.” 

“I love you too!” Morgana sounded like he was about to cry so Akira hugged him once again. 

Akira wasn't done with what he wanted to do yet. He didn’t want to die. The party needed him, they needed him healthy if they were going to have any shot at continuing. Akira just hoped that if his hanahaki came out it meant that Akechi would tell him the truth and trust him to help.

And maybe not try to kill him.

_________________________________________

It felt almost like time was moving slower as Akira left Leblanc to meet with Akechi. The train ride felt like ages and the walk up the stairs to the station square felt like centuries. He was early, by maybe an hour, he couldn’t tell. He didn’t want to look at his phone. Morgana probably ran over to tell Futaba what was going on by now. He didn’t want to see the hundred or so messages from concerned friends. He'd lose his nerve if he saw that. Instead he took out his inhaler to medicate heavily then put it away. He needed to get through this talk. Then it wouldn’t matter anymore. 

One way or another it wouldn’t matter anymore.

“Have you been waiting long?” Akechi’s voice spoke suddenly from next to him. He nearly dropped the inhaler he was trying to put away. He managed to keep hold on it though and zipped his bag closed before turning to Akechi. 

“Better early and prepared than late and panicking.” Akira grinned. “Thanks for meeting with me. I’m just surprised you didn’t say Kichijoji.” 

“There’s something I wanted to confirm that we can’t do there.” Akechi smiled. “Would you mind joining me in Mementos?” 

“Mementos?” Akira raised an eyebrow and suddenly started to worry what Akechi thought this was about.

“Yes, will you indulge me?” Akechi requested. Akira’s stomach was in knots as he simply nodded. “Thank you. I’ll take us in.” Akechi took out his phone to transport them into Mementos. 

“So… why are we in Mementos?” Akira questioned. 

“Follow me a bit first.” Akechi requested jumping off the platform to walk along the rails. Akira kept a step behind him, watching the back of his head wondering if this was actually going to be the place Akechi was going to try killing him. Akira supposed that was fine, he was planning on dying one way or another tonight. 

“We’re pretty far in now…” Akira said after they walked for what felt like a mile. 

“I was just looking for the right place. I think this’ll do.” Akechi said as they walked into one of the open spaces. “You’ve been rather sloppy lately.” Akechi commented, turning to Akira. “Not at all like normal. I’m wondering if you ever recovered from your lung infection properly.”

“I haven’t. I just couldn’t stand sitting out again.” Akira admitted. In a way, hanahaki was an infection. He wasn’t lying. “I think I’ve managed to keep up pretty well, all things considered. I’m not so weak.” Akira put his hands into his pockets.

“I don’t think I need to remind you of how your first fight in Sae-san’s palace went.” Akechi spoke flatly. He was talking about that weird humanoid cheetah shadow. Akira had to admit that wasn’t his best fight. “If you’re so sure that you’re not weak then I want to test your strength.” Akechi drew his gun to point it at Akira making him freeze in shock. “Besides, I did promise that I would come at you with my very best if you beat me when using my right hand.” 

“Wait… you just want to duel like… fight? I thought you meant pool...” Akira was actually disappointed but more than that he was nervous. He had doubts he was in any condition to beat Akechi in a fight.

“Yes, well, this is your own fault. I need to ensure you’re in top form so this serves two purposes.” Akechi shifted his stance. “One is to test if you’re really ready for this and the other… Well, I’m not without more selfish reasons. Your insight into my dominant hand, your quick wit, and most of all how fast you’ve grown. You’ve exceeded my expectations in every possible way.” 

“I didn’t realize you held me in such high regard. I really just wanted to talk first, Akechi...” Akira was uneasy. The look in Akechi’s eyes wasn’t something Akira was familiar with. There was his normal confidence sure, but there was something else maybe bloodlust? Shit was Akechi really going to try killing him here? Well, at least he didn’t need to fuss with his hanahaki then.

“Of course I do. You are my greatest rival after all. We can _talk_ after we’re done. ” Akechi shifted into his normal battle stance. Akira felt his heart sink a little at being called a rival. Weren’t they friends? He really was going to die here. “Now that I’ve built up this urge to duel you I will not hold anything back. So let’s begin!” 

“Fine.” Akira drew his dagger. If this was what he needed to do to get Akechi to talk with him then he was going to do it. Akira’s death was imminent, there was no way to avoid it. If Akechi was going to kill him here with a fight, then Akira was going to try taking him down as well. He needed to protect his team. This was the last thought Akira had before Akechi goaded him on, demanding Akira attack him with lethal intent if he intended to win. 

So Akira did.

The fight was hard, harder than literally any of the other fights Akira’s ever had to do. Akechi was holding nothing back against him. This was bad, he could barely touch Akechi and he thought he was going to take him down with him? What a joke. The bigger joke was Akira himself. It was in his codename wasn’t it? He had really thought there might have been a shot for him and Akechi to work out. 

Akira’s lungs were on fire now. He relied heavily on his persona so he wouldn’t have to move as much but Akechi wasn’t giving him time to stand and strategize. Every time Akira had to dodge he felt something in his lungs move. Even a shortest backstep left him gasping for air and then Akira suddenly felt dizzy. He had to take a knee before he passed out which was in the second Akechi summoned Robin Hood to hit him with a bless attack.

Akira still had Seth as his persona of choice so when the bless attack landed Akira was knocked a clear five feet away. By the time the ringing in Akira’s ears stopped, Akechi was standing over him with a look of disgust and disappointment with his sword pointed at Akira’s neck. “I was hoping I was wrong.” 

Akira glared up at him before trying to slap the sword away with his dagger to get back up but Akechi kicked Akira’s weapon away then pointed his sword back at his throat. “You going to kill me here?” Akira asked.

Akechi looked over Akira with a look he couldn’t describe. He looked upset but not in an angry way, more like he was just very disappointed. What was with that?

A long silence followed between them before Akechi removed his weapon to stow it then offered his hand to Akira to help him stand up once more. Akira hesitated in taking it, he wondered if he was about to get stabbed once he got up. With a shake of his head Akira took the hand and was helped back up to his feet. “Are you hurt badly?” 

“Just my pride.” Akira pressed his lips together thinly before retrieving his weapon. He was hurt a lot more than that but he wasn’t going to admit it in here. He was going to die tonight, just not in Mementos. He didn’t like the idea of leaving his body to rot in actual Hell. The idea of him going ‘missing’ was actually worse than dying.

“Let’s get out of here and we’ll talk.” Akechi motioned for Akira to follow him to make their way back out of Mementos. Well, at least Akechi was being kind enough to grant Akira his silent wish. 

Leaving Mementos was much harder than entering it. Akira was sore and walking was hard. It ended up taking even longer to make their way back out of the Metaverse then it took to come in, but Akechi was patient. He walked slowly with Akira to either protect him from shadows or maybe it was to spend just a little longer together as ‘friends’ or rivals or whatever. 

Once they were clear onto the streets Akechi turned to Akira. “I admit, I’m rather disappointed you couldn’t beat me.”

“Next time can’t we just play pool instead?” Akira rubbed the base of his spine. Why was he still trying to play it off like he was going to walk away from this alive?

“I apologize for being entirely blunt but I don’t think there will be a next time.” Akechi said coldly, drawing Akira’s gaze. Was this his way of admitting he was going to kill Akira? Too bad for him that he didn’t know that Akira was about to commit suicide via hanahaki confession.

Whatever the case, this wasn’t what he normally sounded like, but to Akira’s ears it sounded so natural. Was this how Akechi would speak if he wasn’t some TV personality? Akira swallowed a nervous cough threatening to come up as Akechi spoke again. The flowers were basically knocking on the back of his throat asking to come out. “I’m going to be entirely honest with you: I _hate_ you.”

There it was. Akechi didn’t know it but he beat Akira to the punchline. 

Suddenly, Akira felt his hearing go out. Akechi’s mouth was moving but he wasn’t actually speaking, or it was more that Akira couldn’t hear him. Akira’s ears started to ring in a slow growing pitch as he took in one breath. Still breathing was good, but he felt like he was freezing. November was chilly but Akira felt like his blood was actually turning to slush in his veins.

The echo of the words ‘I hate you’ bounced around in his head over and over again. He could see Akechi’s mouth moving in slow motion now but the only sound Akira heard was the ringing. Well, he could hear a voice in his head laughing at him. It was a strange sound to him because it sounded like Akechi’s voice and his own mixed together. His nightmare from months ago had come true. Akechi hated him. This was only made worse by the fact that he was going to die here without having done anything to protect his team. Shit.

When his sense of hearing came back to him it felt like cotton had been pulled from his ears before someone pushed his head in front of a car just as the driver began to lean into the horn. It wasn’t just a horn Akira heard now though. He could hear everything, and it was **LOUD**. All around him was so damn loud it hurt his ears. It took a tremendous amount of self control not to cover his ears to spare himself ruptured ear drums. Why was everything so loud now? How long had passed? Akira was trying to figure out how he was still standing while Akechi carried on about something else. Akira wasn’t actually listening to him. 

No, Akira was just staring at Akechi’s stupid handsome face. His eyes were a nice red color, not too bright, and reminded Akira of garnets rather than rubies. God they were gorgeous. His skin was basically flawless. There was a little mark on his cheek from their fight in Mementos but that wouldn’t leave a bruise or anything. That was good. His hair was on the longer side, but not in an annoying way. Akira wondered how it would have felt to run his fingers through it. Would it look good put up in a ponytail? Akira’s imagination wasn’t good enough to paint that picture for him, but he had to bet that Akechi would have looked nice with his hair up.

It was strange to have so much time to think about the little details of Akechi’s face. Was his brain just working faster to take it in before lights out? If that was the case it gave Akira time to think about why he was still standing and not throwing up flowers. Was Akechi lying? Did his hanahaki know? What the fuck was this sickness he had? He appreciated the time to stare but really he just wanted this to be over already. He wouldn’t have to see his familiar if he was dead. Hopefully. 

Thoughts raced through Akira’s head until he finally felt it. It was just delayed. It really was just fucking with him wasn’t it? Giving him a few more seconds to come to a very obvious conclusion, Akira loved Goro Akechi. Betrayal and all.

First he felt the tickle at the back of his throat. He tried to fight it back by clearing it but only served to aggravate the oncoming attack. Akira turned away not really listening to what Akechi was saying as he started to walk away. He didn’t know where he was going. He just was. He made it only a few steps away before Akechi pulled at his arm to make him stop to face him. Going as far to push him against the nearest wall to keep Akira in place.

With his eyes back on Akechi’s, Akira started to cough. It was a little thing at first. Akechi seemed to think that it’s just him trying to make an excuse to leave. “Such an overused gesture wouldn’t work on me.”But when it continued Akechi started to look concerned. “Hey, what’s wrong with you?” He was about to find out.

The next thing Akira knew he was on his knees. He braced his hands on the ground to stop his face from smashing into the pavement as a hard bloody cough tore from this throat to speckle the ground with blood. Akira could see as it dried up almost right away. He wondered if his blood was going to stain the pavement or if even this part of him was going to be cleaned up and forgotten.

Akechi’s hand was on his shoulder trying to get him to look at him but it only hastened what was about to happen. With another hard blood soaked cough, a bloodstained red camellia came falling out of his mouth with roots attached. It was bigger than any of the rest Akira had seen and it was then that he knew that this was his end. There had to be an even larger one pressing against the walls of his lungs as the roots twisted around his insides to kill him.

He remembered the book he’d read at Takemi’s clinic, the one that told him what the flower meant. _In love, perishing with grace_. Akira had to silently laugh at that. There was no grace in dying like this. The taste of copper filled his mouth and he had enough time to actually sit and stare at the flower under him. 

It was bloody beautiful.

“Hanahaki…” Akechi’s voice was barely above a whisper before Akira went into another coughing fit. This one was worse than before, it felt similar to the one he’d had in front of the temple those few nights ago. He really had been close to dying that night huh? Well, now he really was. 

Akira couldn’t stop himself from reaching for his mouth to pull the flowers out of the way. He thought to himself that it was the same as the girl in the aquarium. It was impulsive wasn’t it? Akira was scared. He wasn’t ready to die after all.

“You said you… You told me you didn’t have it! Damn it!” Akechi forced Akira to look at him. “I love you! I lied! Are you listening to me?! Kurusu?! I _love_ you!” Akechi forced Akira to sit back against a wall to keep him sitting upright as he started to help move the flowers out of the way of his mouth. Akira’s blood slicked hands couldn’t get a good grip on them anymore and it was hard to keep them up. He just let his arms fall to his sides to allow Akechi to try. “I said I hate you because-- because I had to! I can’t be with you! I can’t love you, but I do! So stop _fucking **dying**_! Spit this shit out! Did you hear me, Kurusu? I said I love you!” 

Akira recalled what Akechi had said back in the aquarium. Even if he didn’t mean it he would tell someone dying of hanahaki that he loved them. It was a nice thought, and being on the receiving end of Akechi’s conviction to tell that person he loved them… even if he had been planning to kill him. Akira had to admit that it did feel nice. It wasn’t true though was it? Why would you agree to kill someone you love? No. Akechi looked like he was crying right now. Akira couldn’t actually bring himself to believe that Akechi really wanted him dead after all.

The flowers come out faster now, maybe it was because the disease knew Akechi must be lying? Or maybe it was because he was pulling at them with more force? Could they have been coming out because Akechi was telling the truth? Nonetheless, Akira couldn’t get a single breath in. His throat was full of flowers and his lungs had reached a point of pain where Akira just couldn’t feel anything anymore. His vision formed black spots and his brain pounded painfully in his skull. He needed air, he wasn’t going to get it. 

Even as he suffocated all Akira could think was that he wished he could have told Akechi he still trusted him, as stupid as that sounded. He still loved Akechi.

His love was stupid and now he was going to die for it.

_____________________________________________

“Aki-nii! Wake up already!” A faint voice called to Akira through the darkness before a pounding on the door drew Akira from his sleep. He said up with a grumble to look around. He was back home in Inaba in his own bed. 

With a confused look around Akira noted everything was where it should be. His desk full of reference books sat neatly cleaned up and ready for another study session later. A small table in the middle of the room was set with a pair of cushions. He didn’t need more than two, Tsubaki was the only one who ever sat with him.

Across from his bed was a literal wall of books set on shelves that reached to the ceiling. Most of them were for studying or nonfiction titles for research. His room was sort of the house’s unofficial library. There were a few fiction books but Akira had already read them all. A small section of the bottom corner was dedicated to some manga Tsubaki got but had no place for in her own room.

“Aki-nii! If you’re not up mom’s going to be mad!” the voice from before called through the door before knocking on it once again. 

“I’m up.” Akira called back. 

“Okay! Hurry up and get ready for school!” the voice said before the sound of retreating footsteps let Akira know he was alone. After a few seconds Akira swung his legs around to set his feet on the floor to then stand up. First he reached for his nightstand to put on his glasses but they weren’t there. 

“I… need glasses…?” Akira wondered out loud with a confused look. He remembered wearing them almost constantly. He couldn’t place why though. “Maybe I’m losing my mind.” Akira shook his head then crossed his room to pull out his uniform to get changed.

He stood in front of his mirror as he fixed the buttons to his school jacket all the way to the top. As he went to clip the high neck closed Akira paused. Why was he trying to look so presentable? He never buttoned his jacket up all the way. He always wore it loose. It wasn’t the proper way to wear it but no one got in trouble for it, so why did he care?

“I’m really out of it today.” Akira told himself as he unbuttoned a few then grabbed his bag to leave his room. Once he was out in the hall he realized that it was actually pretty dark suddenly. When he looked down at his clothes he was no longer in his school uniform, he was in his everyday clothes. 

“Akira, if you don’t hurry up you’re going to be late for cram!” another voice called from down the hall. Wasn’t he just on his way to school? Well, cram school was still school. He did remember putting on his uniform but maybe he was still half asleep or something so he just mistook what he did.

He shook off the feeling of confusion to make his way down the hall to the living room dining space but no one was there. The TV was on the news talking about the weather for tomorrow but no one was watching it. “Your dad is going to drive you so hurry and get in the car.” the voice from before called to him from back toward the bedrooms. Akira thought it came from the kitchen before but there was no one in there. 

“Right. Uh, I’m leaving!” Akira called. He then went to the entryway to put on his shoes and step outside. It was proper dark now. It wasn’t supposed to be this dark right now. Akira spent a moment staring at the sky as he tried to figure out where all the stars had gone. It was supposed to be clear tonight according to the news so why couldn’t he see the night sky?

A short beep from his father’s car reminded Akira that he was supposed to get going. He rushed to the door to open the door and climb in. Once he closed the door though he wasn’t in the car. He was in his cram class but there was no one else there. The blackboard had a list of names with test scores written next to them and Akira was at the top with perfect marks.

That was his thing, he was good at tests. He had reliable study notes. People trusted him to be smart. “Kurusu, if you don’t hurry up you’re going to get locked in here.” A voice called from the semi open door. 

“Ah, sorry!” Akira said then quickly shoved all of his things into his bag. He got up quickly to leave the classroom then turned to close the door but as he reached for it he was suddenly outside instead.

Akira looked around trying to figure out where he was, he was still a few blocks from home. He must have just gotten off the bus. That made sense. Akira pulled his bag closer on his shoulder then began his walk down the street. 

He was just nearing a corner when he heard someone call for help. It sounded like a woman. There was a man’s voice too telling her to shut up. That wasn’t right. Akira started to walk faster now. He needed to assess the situation then call the police if needed. Akira could see a car and the dark outline of two people on the sidewalk. 

The woman’s voice called again for help so Akira rushed in. He meant to just call the cops so why was he being reckless? He put himself between the two of them making the man step back then slip and fall. 

“A-are you okay?” Akira asked, reaching for the man but as he did black shadow covered him. The next thing he knew that man grew in size. He was easily two times Akira’s height before turning back to look at Akira. There was a mask on his face now. It was solid white, no holes of eyes or nose or mouth and it shined in the street lamp. 

Fear raced up Akira’s spine as he turned to grab the woman’s hand behind him and run with her but when he reached back he found a wall of something flesh-like. He turned his head to find that the woman had also turned into a ten foot tall shadow monster with a pristine white mask. 

A flash like a car driving by blinded Akira for a moment making him shield his eyes. When he looked again the scenery had changed. He was in a white room with the shadow monsters a good three yards from him. They just stood there, staring at him. There was nothing else around them save for one intricate gold dood behind the shadows.

“Don’t think about it, inmate”! A familiar voice sounded from behind Akira. When he turned around to look at who was speaking with him the room began to turn into a strange gradient. He was now facing a barred door into a blue hued prison that were also about three years from him. When he looked up the gradient shifted just over his head turning to white again toward the shadow monsters. “You come right back here you hear me?!” 

“Caroline, we must call him back kindly.” another voice said. “Inmate, Akira Kurusu, please return to this side. You still have much to accomplish.” 

“Who… no… I know you.” Akira looked down at the ground confused.

“Enough. Your time has not yet come.” A deep voice spoke from within the room before Akira felt a hard pull. He suddenly found himself dragged forward toward the bars of the blue room before he could say anything else. He couldn’t stop, he was going to hit the bars. 

He raised his hands to brace himself for the hit but it never came.

The next time Akira opened his eyes another unfamiliar white ceiling. There was a faint beeping he could hear in the background but he had no idea what that was. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he was alive or if this was the limbo he’d had to go to in order to interview for Hell or whatever. The Velvet Room had been part of that, wait, part of what? Akira was starting to vaguely remember a strange dream he had but the more he tried to grasp what happened in it, the more faded away from his memory.

It probably wasn’t important. He was aware of where he was now, kind of, and it was probably limbo. There was no way he was going to the ‘Good Place’ or whatever it was. He wasn’t the right material for that. The only decent thing he ever did was save that woman from the drunk guy. Everything else after that was a natural growth of the shit he’d been thrown into. The friends he’d saved were all just a product of trying to play like he was a hero.

He took in a deep breath through his nose and it was simultaneously the best and worst thing he’d ever done. His throat hurt SO MUCH. It was more painful than it ever had been in his life, so maybe he was in hell, but then his lungs actually _filled_ with air. It wasn’t a short breath that just filled the spaces not taken over by the hanahaki. It was so much fuller than that and it was wonderful.

Akira decided against making any sound in his throat as he sat up a bit to look around. His mind didn’t at all connect the beeping sound he’d heard to the heart rate monitor until he actually looked at the machine. He couldn’t help but stare at it for what felt like an hour. That was proof that he was alive wasn’t it? Why was he alive? Akira continued to stare at it for a little longer before he finally looked around elsewhere. He was in a hospital. He really was… alive?

Akira scanned the room until his eyes fell on a mop of brown hair attached to a man resting his head on Akira’s bed. 

Akechi seemed to be sleeping.

His hands laid out on the bed with a book a few inches from his fingertips. His tan school uniform jacket was nowhere in sight. Why had he been wearing his school uniform on a Sunday anyway? This was probably something Akira would have to ask about later, or he could ignore it. Did it really matter?

Putting aside the uniform, Akira tipped his head to the side to try getting a look at Akechi’s sleeping face. Goro Akechi… He really was a confusing guy when Akira thought about him. What was his game? 

Akira pondered this question silently as Akechi shifted a little in his sleep making his bangs fall away from his face so Akira could see it. This was easily the absolute most vulnerable Akira had ever seen Akechi ever. Akira stared at him for a long time as he mentally tried to catch up to what had to have happened for him to be in this hospital bed right now across from a sleeping Akechi _._

Goro Akechi had told _him_ , Akira Kurusu, that he hated him, but then in Akira’s final seconds of life, Akechi took back his words of hate to say that he actually loved Akira. Not only had Akechi told him Akira that he loved him, but the hanahaki that had been killing him accepted it. Which meant it was the truth. That was the only thing that made any sense while at the same time making _no sense at all._

Honestly, all Akira had left was questions. What was going on with Akechi that would cause him to agree to kill Akira if he loved him? Who was he working for? Did anyone know Akira was alive? What time was it? 

Akira was still processing his list of questions when the door to his hospital room was ripped open. It startled Akechi awake and in his panicked state he grabbed for the book to raise it as if he was going to throw it until he realized what was going on. Sojiro and Futaba had arrived. One question answered at least.

“Boss…” Akechi let out a long, very tired, sigh as he relaxed back into his seat. New question, how long had Akechi been here? He looked like he’d been awake for days now that his eyes were open. He looked a mess. Plus, now that he sat back Akira could see that the front of his normally pristine white shirt was covered in blood. Akira had never seen Akechi look so disheveled and it made his heart tighten. He couldn’t have been this tired from just Akira’s hanahaki coming up.

Akechi relaxed his shoulders as he rubbed the side of his neck then looked over to Akira before he realized Akira was watching him. “You’re awake!” He shifted forward again to be closer. Worry was written all over his face as he moved his hands as if he was going to grab Akira’s hand but then stopped as if he thought better of it. Was he worried about hurting Akira?

Futaba, on the other hand, didn’t show any restraint as she threw herself at Akira with a sob of his name. 

“I was so worried about you! Mona came to the house saying you were going to do something stupid and saying you were going to probably _die!_ What’s up with that?! Who gave you permission to do that to us?!” Futaba shouted at Akira while squeezing him tightly around his middle. She was very upset. 

Her shouting was apparently loud enough to draw attention from outside as a nurse came in to tell them to be quiet and question who Futaba and Sojiro were.

“Uh, I’m his guardian. Could you tell me what happened?” Sojiro answered to try and get some leeway as Futaba cried more about how worried she had been. 

“I tried to contact everyone sooner to explain where we were but...both of our phones died and… I forgot...” Akechi looked away from the two of them. 

“If you can behave I’ll let you all stay,” the nurse gave Futaba a hard stare. “Earlier this evening Akira-kun was brought in with severe bleeding of the throat following a hanahaki related attack. It seems his hanahaki had a very violent expulsion from his body and tore his esophagus to shreds on it’s way out. We administered emergency surgery and he’s on the mend, but we don’t know if his vocal cords have been permanently damaged. The bright side is that he’s alive,” the nurse pulled out his clipboard to look at the chart there,” we’ll have to keep him for observation for at least two to three days to ensure he doesn’t have trouble swallowing. The doctor working on this will be in to talk with you later. In the meantime...” The nurse continued to explain to Sojiro about his required recovery. Akira wondered if a dia spell would help him heal faster. 

“Also, you two,” the nurse made sure he had Akira and Akechi’s attention,” the doctor said that considering the growth your hanahaki was at, and the damage the roots did on their way out, he strongly encourages that further validation is given.” The nurse looked at Akechi now. “Are you the source?” 

“I...think I am?” Akechi looked nervous admitting it, then looked at Akira who nodded in confirmation.

“You’ll be permitted to stay with him at all times. Any relapse with this much damage could cause considerable harm to his throat.” The nurse began to write on some paper. “Your name?” 

“Goro Akechi.” 

“Goro-kun, I’ll be back in a while with a band meaning you’re to be allowed in at any time. For you two visiting hours aren’t for a while longer but I understand you’re his guardian, so I’ll allow you to remain but going forward only visitors during proper hours and two at a time. Not including him.” The nurse indicated to Akechi,” I’ll be back with that band in a little while. Don’t leave this room for now or it’ll have to wait for God knows how long. It’s been a long night.” 

“Thank you nurse.” Sojiro nodded to them before they turned to leave. “You look like hell… both of you.” 

“Ah,” Akechi looked down at his shirt when Sojiro motioned at his front,” I… had to pull the roots out myself. They wouldn’t come out naturally. I almost thought for a moment that maybe I was lying to myself and trying to force it when it wouldn’t come, but I kept trying anyway then it came out.” Akechi looked to Akira and he could see the hurt on his face. How much had he panicked when the roots wouldn’t come out easily? “If in the end you cannot speak I fear it might be my fault.” Akechi directed at Akira with a rather guilty expression on his face. This was a new look.

Futaba stared hard at Akechi, she was probably as confused as Akira was. He tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention before he motioned for something to write with. “I don’t have paper… but I do have my phone! I thought yours might be dead too so I bought a changer and stuff.” Futaba pulled her phone out to pull up a text app then dug back into her pockets for a long charging cable and wall plugin. 

‘Do the others know what’s happened yet?’ Akira wrote to show her before she ducked away to plug in the charger. 

“Not yet. Sojiro got to the shop to open up and found a message on the answering machine. He rushed back and just said you were at the hospital so I ran out, I left Mona and everything.” Futaba chewed her bottom lip. “Where’s his phone?” Futaba directed at Akechi.

“I didn’t have your home number, but Leblanc is in the phonebook so I gave them that number.” Akechi admitted as he stood the fetch Akira’s phone to pass to Futaba. “I’ll admit I should have at least had someone’s number memorized but… I was a little preoccupied.”

“You can tell your friends later.” Sojiro waved a dismissive hand as Futaba plugged in Akira’s phone to let it charge. “I’m just glad you’ve alive. When you left last night I was hoping it was to get your hanahaki out. I just didn’t realize that ficus was so damaging.” 

“I knew…” Futaba looked troubled as she glanced at Akira with her fingers touching together,” it was why I blocked your search for it. I didn’t want you to freak out and not give it a try still, y’know? People die of ficus hanahaki even if they’re accepted so… you got lucky.”

“How… many of you knew about it? His hanahaki?” Akechi asked after a pause.

“Everyone.” Futaba answered matter of factly and Akira watched as Akechi’s face turned a deep dark red. It was actually fun to see. So many new expressions were showing on his face today and Akira was glad he lived to see them. “I knew since I joined the team. I kinda hacked all of his chats. Everyone else found out at different times. Yusuke knew first!” 

“Honestly kid, I think you’re the only one who didn’t know. I guess that’s just how it goes with this crap though.” Sojiro said to Akechi before rubbing the back of his neck with a tired sigh. “It won’t taste any good, but I’m going to get some coffee. Do you want any?” 

“Please.” Akechi bowed his head to stare down at his hands. Once Sojiro was gone, Akechi looked up at Akira and Futaba his expression again, something Akira had never seen on his face. The best way Akira could describe it was a mix between desperation and uncertainty. “I--” Akechi was struggling,” Can I get a moment alone to talk to him?” 

“You had all kinds of alone time with him already!” Futaba pouted.

“He wasn’t exactly conscious for that time…” Akechi looked a little annoyed then cast his eyes around to look for something to focus on rather than Futaba so he ended up looking at Akira. It seemed to help him calm down a little. “I just need a few minutes, please?” Akechi’s eyes shifted from Akira to Futaba,” I can’t do this with you here.” 

“Stop being a baby.” Futaba rolled her eyes but Akira gave her a tap on the shoulder. He wanted to hear what Akechi had to say. “ _Fine._ I’ll step outside. Keep my phone so you can talk... kinda.”

Akira nodded and watched Futaba leave before looking back to Akechi with a raised eyebrow. 

“It’s been a very long night.” Akechi sadi as he dragged his hands down over his face then looked at Akira again. “Are you in pain?” 

Akira shook his head.

“That’s good…” Akechi nodded. He went silent for a while before he let out a sigh and dragged his hand through his hair. “Where to start… um… I suppose with asking why you never told me.” Akechi sounded a bit more stern now. “You know my history with hanahaki, why keep it from me?” 

‘Honestly? I thought you were WAY out of my league. You’re a famous detective with fans all over the country. Meanwhile I’m here with bedhead chic and a criminal record.’ Akira typed out then showed Akechi. 

“I… can’t fault you for that. I knew you had some kind of crush on me. I honestly thought it was kind of a joke at first.” Akechi folded his arms across his chest. “At first I figured you were just someone else who didn’t know anything about me but somehow wanted to date me. I did think you were cute, your ‘bedhead chic’ as you call it is rather endearing.” Akechi admitted which set Akira’s face ablaze with a deep red blush. Had Akechi actually called him cute? What the fuck.

“We spent time together in the cafe which was fine. Flirting with the barista wasn’t that strange, but then we started meeting outside of that and I grew more interested in you. I started to realize it was easy to be around you, and not get irritated. It makes me sound conceited, but there’s not many people I can speak with and not just… inherently dislike.

“I didn’t take you or your affections seriously until,” Akechi paused to mentally backtrack,” Okumura’s palace. When you weren’t there I actually noticed that I missed you. I probably actually liked you sooner but denied it. Maybe it’s more accurate to say the beach trip is when I first felt something?” Akechi inspected his hands. “Not that I’m trying to give you an excuse. You should have at least told me you could contract hanahaki.”

Akira tapped his chin before he typed,’ I had hanahaki since… maybe the beginning? I just didn’t notice until June when the first petal came up.’

“You didn’t consider just getting it removed?” Akechi looked at him. “I understand not throwing yourself at someone and I hardly think someone you’d barely met not even two months prior warranted that much suffering.” 

‘It didn’t hurt all that much at the start… But also what was I supposed to do? Tell you to stay out of my life? I wasn’t trying to inconvenience Boss more by telling his customer to stay away… After a while I couldn’t get it taken out even if I wanted to.’ Akira typed quickly. ‘You heard them say ficus right?’ 

“I heard. I have to admit I don’t know what that is in hanahaki terms.”

‘It’s a rare type of hanahaki where the roots get in so deep and securely they can’t be removed via surgery.’ Akira explained. ‘Futaba says it’s not pretty looking… she even blocked my phone search so I couldn’t sike myself out with it.’

“Ah.” Akechi looked uncomfortable. “I don’t recommend looking even now. With that I saw… you’d be better of just letting that go. I can’t force you not to, but I cannot stress how much you shouldn’t look.” Was it that bad?

‘So… what now?’ Akira had to ask. His chest felt oddly empty for someone who had just survived advanced hanahaki. He knew it was supposed to maybe be a good thing but it was a hollow kind of feeling and it made him sick with worry. Was he going to seed again?

“Right now you need to recover. We have some time before the calling card deadline. Before that though I have to talk with everyone.” Akechi leaned back in his seat. 

‘Is it about Shido?’

Akechi’s expression turned dark at the name,” How do you know about him?” Akira didn’t answer and instead just stared at Akechi for a full minute before he sighed in irritation. “Yes.” 

‘I want to know.’

“You can wait.” Akechi spoke firmly. “I’m not getting into it here. I don’t trust this hospital.” Akechi looked around the room. Was he worried they were being listened in on? It was more likely that he was trying to just find something else to look at so he didn’t have to see Akira typing. “You can relax. I’m not going anywhere. Not right now at least. I need to change my clothes at some point.” Akechi looked back.

‘Tell Ryuji to bring you something.’

“I’m not letting him into my apartment.” Akechi said flatly.

‘Tell Makoto.’

“Maybe…” Akechi entertained the idea. Silence filled the room again before Akira got brave.

‘Can you… tell me again you love me?’ 

“That--” Akechi’s face flushed once more and he covered his mouth as if it would help to hide his embarrassment. “You realize I’m furious with you for lying to me you know? I asked you time and again but you dismissed me. I thought you were just being an asshole because you were worried about Mona. You should have told me you could get it.” 

‘I know I lied.’ Akira typed. ‘You told me about your mom and then we saw that girl die in the aquarium and I didn’t want to tell you because you’d figure me out and I was scared I was going to just die right away. I didn’t think there was any way you could like me like that.’

“You’re good at making bad assumptions aren’t you?” Akechi glared at him. “Yes I would have figured you out, but it would have made me realize how I felt about you sooner as well. I wouldn’t have been so reckless…” Akechi let out a sigh as he trailed off. “The point is that you wouldn’t have had it so long and the situation would be different.”

‘You would have saved me then?’ Akira asked.

Akechi stared at the words on the phone for a minute before he glanced away. He didn’t answer right away but Akira could see a faint blush on his face. “I would have.” 

Akira watched Akechi for a minute or so then typed a long message into Futaba’s phone. He only vaguely wondered if she would be able to see any of this after but he didn’t care. He wanted to get his thoughts out. It didn’t matter that Akechi didn’t want to talk to him here. Akira was going to say his piece. 

‘I know you were told to kill me by someone. I don’t know why. I don’t know if you actually planned to. I guess maybe that’s what you want to talk about with everyone and that’s fine. When we met in Shibuya… I’ll admit I didn’t plan to walk away alive. You started getting distant with me and I thought that there was no way you would accept me. It’d be easy to kill me by just telling me you hated me. Which you did. The only comfort I had was that I was going to die before you could kill me. I was hoping to fuck up your plans somehow. 

After you told me you hated me do you know what I thought? It’s stupid and you can call me out on it but I thought “wow he’s really handsome.” I was literally seconds away from flowers bursting out of my mouth and all I could think about was that. Somewhere in my stupid brain I thought, “he’s handsome” and then thought “I wish I could tell him I still trusted him” which, again, is stupid and I know it. But I do trust you Akechi. I’ve trusted you for a long time. My dumb crush and hanahaki aside you’ve been a stable friend and teammate. When I found out you were supposed to kill me I just… I couldn’t really believe it. I don’t know what’s going on with you but I want you to trust me like I trust you. Please?’ Akira typed out his long message then handed the phone to Akechi to let him read. 

Akira watched his face carefully as the color drained from it in the first second. Akechi glanced up at Akira to maybe gage his reaction then continued to read. As he scrolled the message to get to the bottom color came back into Akechi’s face until he was actually bright red. Once he was done reading he passed the phone back without looking up at Akira. “You’re not stupid so stop calling yourself that.” Akechi said first. “You… know more than I intended to let on. There’s no way you’re stupid.” 

Akechi let out another sigh and rubbed his hands over his face then dragged back back ground his hair,” I do intend to talk about that with everyone present. I… I never actually planned to kill you. I was going to try doing something else. I’m not going to kill you. I promise. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you more.” Akechi then looked up at Akira. “I’ll do better.”

‘Good. Now that we’re being honest with one another, I feel kind of… hollow?’ 

“Hollow?” Akechi raised an eyebrow. 

‘Yeah. I think I should feel less… bad… about being alive?’ Akira tried to explain. He tried to ask Akechi outright to say he loved him but that didn’t work. 

“Hm.” Akechi looked thoughtful for a few seconds before it seemed to click. “Oh. I see. I should listen better.” Akechi looked annoyed with himself at the same time a faint red powerded his face. “I… I love you.” 

At those words the hollow lonely feeling in Akira’s chest faded away. He needed to file that feeling away in his mind as a tell for what was probably upcoming hanahaki. If he ever needed to again. He could still end up dead from some kind of shadow related incident. 

‘I’ll say it back with my own words when I can.’ Akira typed out. ‘Can you call Futaba back now? Unless you had more to say?’

“I’m finished.” Akechi stood. “Just to be sure,” Akechi looked down at Akira before leaning down to place a kiss on his cheek,” I don’t want to be doubted.” Akechi then went to open the door. Leaving Akira turning bright red as the heart rate monitor began to beep faster.

This was stupid. A kiss on the cheek shouldn’t get him this worked up but it did! Why was Akira actually like this?

He loved Goro Akechi and he couldn’t hide that anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi. this is a chapter i’m very proud of and wanted to share this before i went on ffxiv hiatus. i actually made a discord server for people to join and hang out if you’re interested. also my internet is fucking up badly so i’m not going to ramble on tonight. thanks for reading. next chapter def won’t be for a few days. good night! [discord server](https://discord.gg/B2gPpSv)
> 
> preview:  
>  _ **glasses kink** : everyone calm down. _  
> _**glasses kink** : i am alive._  
>  _ **twink bara** : BRO WHERE ARE YOU?_  
>  _ **glasses kink** : uhhhhhhhhhh…. that’s a good question._  
>  _ **PrinceType** : JR General._  
>  _ **sensual strawberries** : WHY ARE YOU IN THE HOSPITAL?! _  
> _**twink bara** : akechi what the fuck did you do to him?????????????_  
> 


	24. ok so i might be the bad guy...but i’m trying to get better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akira is given a new power for surviving his hanahaki. meanwhile, akechi explains himself to the team and most of all to akira.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi

_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:17am: **Ann** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ann** : where are you?  
**Ann** : school’s started you know?  
**Ann** : kawakami keeps asking me if i know where you are.  
**Ann** : you better be ok.  
**Ann** : if you did something stupid i s2g.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ RYUJI SAKAMOTO _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _10:46am: **Ryuji** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji** : bro  
**Ryuji** : where are you?  
**Ryuji** : ann says you werent in class and futaba aint answerin either  
**Ryuji** : im worried  
**Ryuji** : talk to me  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ MAKOTO NIIJIMA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _12:50pm: **Makoto** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Makoto** : I can’t get the feeling something bad has happened off my chest.  
**Makoto** : Not to sound insensitive but it’s almost suffocating.  
**Makoto** : Akechi-kun won’t answer either. Please don’t tell me it’s happened.  
**Makoto** : We were supposed to have time.  
**Makoto** : Unless you… no.  
**Makoto** : You’ll be okay.  
**Makoto** : You have to be.  
**Makoto** : You’re our leader. We need you.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ YUSUKE KITAGAWA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _2:53pm: **Yusuke** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yusuke** : Everyone is worried about you.  
**Yusuke** : I’m going to drop by the cafe to find out what is going on.  
**Yusuke** : Just be alive okay?  
**Yusuke** : If Akechi did something to you...  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ HARU OKUMURA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _4:25pm: **Haru** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Haru** : I ran into Yusuke outside of Leblanc. It’s closed.  
**Haru** : Futaba-chan isn’t at home either.  
**Haru** : What’s happened?  
**Haru** : Please be okay.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira stared at his phone as message after message popped on the screen once he turned it back on. He’d missed a lot of worrying from everyone, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready for more people than Futaba and Akechi right now. Sojiro was busy trying to get a hold of the school to let them know he’d be out a few days and why, so that left him between two people who were just silently glancing at him now and again. 

If it wouldn’t tear his throat open he would have screamed for them to say something, but he refrained. Akira let a silent sigh pass through his nose before he began to type on his phone.

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _5:26pm: **glasses kink** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**glasses kink** : everyone calm down.  
**glasses kink** : i am alive.  
**twink bara** : BRO WHERE ARE YOU?  
**glasses kink** : uhhhhhhhhhh…. that’s a good question.  
**PrinceType** : JR General.  
**sensual strawberries** : WHY ARE YOU IN THE HOSPITAL?!  
**twink bara** : akechi what the fuck did you do to him?????????????  
**glasses kink** : he brought me here after my hanahaki nearly killed me coming out.  
**The Hot Class Prez:** ?!?!?  
**glasses kink** : like i said, i’m alive.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist:** Then that means…?  
**glasses kink** : i don’t have hanahaki anymore, doctor is still worried about a relapse since it was so far along it was literally hours away from suffocating me. (ﾉ^ヮ^)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧  
**twink bara** : hell no!  
**twink bara** : akechi you better not let that happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
**sensual keystroke** : he just rolled his eyes.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Futaba-chan are you with them?  
**sensual keystroke** : yeah.  
**twink bara** : WHY WERE YOU IGNORING ALL OUR MESSAGES TOO?  
**sensual keystroke** : because akira needed some rest. i was going to tell you tomorrow if he didn’t say anything first.  
**sensual keystroke** : right now he can’t even talk, so i didn’t want to tell everyone and have a half dozen people trying to force their way in.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : I still wish you would have told us everyone was okay. Mona-chan was outside of the cafe and very worried.  
**sensual keystroke** : i’m sorry mona.  
**twink bara** : how late are visiting hours?  
**sensual keystroke** : until nine.  
**twink bara** : i’m going over there.  
**sensual keystroke** : akechi rolled his eyes again.  
**PrinceType** : Can you stop?  
**sensual keystroke:** nope.  
**glasses kink** : enough.  
**glasses kink** : before someone comes over here can they bring him a shirt?  
**glasses kink** : he’s still covered in my blood…  


Akira looked over at Akechi as he looked down at himself as if he had just remembered that fact. It was well dried by now and Akira just wondered if that shirt was ever going to be salvageable.

 **Sexy Lobster Artist** : I will.  
**sensual keystroke** : someone bring me a liter of creature energy drink too.  
**glasses kink** : oh. good thing you’re already in a hospital, because that can’t possibly kill you or anything. futaba if you’re tired go home.  


“I’ll go home when they kick me out.” Futaba crouched in her chair as she spoke. Akira knew she didn’t want to go home at all but the hospital was only allowing Akechi to stay because of their fear of a relapse of flowers.

 **glasses kink** : seriously. 

“I realize Kitagawa plans to bring me clothes but…” Akechi finally spoke up,” if I give you my apartment key could you go to my place to bring me my own clothes?” Akechi looked across the bed to Futaba who stopped looking at her phone. 

“You’d trust me in your apartment?” Futaba questioned slowly. 

“Yes.” Akechi nodded before getting up. Akira could hear various bones pop and crack which made Akira feel guilty. Akechi had barely left his side since he woke up. 

Akechi vanished for a moment before coming back with his school jacket. It had more blood on it than his shirt did. “This is the key for it.” Akechi pulled the keyring out of its pocket to pass to Futaba who looked at the pancake charm for a moment then up at him. “What?”

“Nothing. I guess I’m doing this.” Futaba took the keys. “Where am I going?” 

“Kita, Park Tower apartments.” Akechi answered. “I’m on the twenty second floor apartment 2208.” As Akechi explained, Futaba tapped the address into her phone.

“Whoa, fancy.” Futaba stared wide eyed at her phone. “Other than clothes, anything else I should bring?” Futaba stood up.

“No. I shouldn’t need anything else.” Akechi answered, pulling out some money to give to her too. “For the train costs.” 

“Cool.” Futaba turned to Akira. “I’ll try to be back fast.” After that Futaba was gone.

 **glasses kink** : good luck.  
**twink bara** : ???????????  
**sensual keystroke** : ryuji, meet me at shinjuku station, we have a mission.  
**PrinceType** : Just… don’t break anything.  
**sensual keystroke** : no promises!  
**twink bara** : ??????????????????????????????  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Is it alright if I visit?  
**glasses kink** : i’d love for you to visit.  
**glasses kink** : if i behave myself they’ll let me out in like… maybe tomorrow or next week.  
**PrinceType** : You make it sound like prison.  
**glasses kink** : wake me up when people get here. i’m going to nap.  
**sensual strawberries** : should we just come by tomorrow?  
**glasses kink** : you can come tonight. confirm that i’m not dead and stuff.  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Okay!  
**The Hot Class Prez** : I’ll be over soon as well. Let’s all remember to behave ourselves. It is a hospital and we are still under investigation.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

“Are you sure you want to be woken up when they come?” Akechi looked from his phone to Akira. Akira nodded before he started to wiggle around to get comfortable. Akechi was looking at his phone again once Akira was comfortable so he snapped his fingers at Akechi to get his attention. “What?” 

Unable to use his voice Akira patted the empty space of the bed next to him. Akechi still looked utterly exhausted.

“No.” Akechi said firmly before a knock sounded at the door. He stepped over to open it to Takemi standing there. “You’re…” 

“His doctor.” Takemi placed a finger against Akechi’s chest to push him lightly out of the way so she could come in. “Looks like you’re not dead. I ran into Boss in the backstreets and he told me you were here. Thanks for the warning.” Takemi said once she got a look at Akira. “I was actually looking for you. I worried that the ficus would still kill you either way if you managed to get him to accept you and was trying to come up with something that would make it easier. Good thing brute force worked well enough.” Takemi picked up Akira’s medical chart to look at it. “I got a look at the plant before coming here. I want to be made you didn’t come to see me but… there wouldn’t have been anything I could have done about it. I’m sorry about that.” Takemi looked disappointed then put the chat back. “They’re going to ask you if they can keep it for research since ficus is so rare. They have to ask after that hanahaki law got passed a decade back. Some people like to immortalize their gardens.” 

Akira did not want to keep his garden at all. It would have just been a reminder of his near death, like a lot. He could tell that Takemi seemed to want it though. So he picked up his phone to text Akechi to be his voice. Akechi looked down at his phone to read Akira’s request to just read what he sends him then asked,” do you want me to give it to you instead?” 

“Sharp as ever,” Takemi didn’t even blink at the fact Akechi was speaking for him,” when you get released I’ll be the one monitoring your recovery. I already told Boss that your bedroom needs to be dust free while you recover. He turned around and said he needed to head back to the cafe.” 

“I wish him luck with that. I’ve been cleaning that attic for months and it’s still a dusty mess.” Akechi read. “The doctor here was saying I’ll need months to recover, you know about some of my more...magical means. Do you think it’ll still take months?” 

“You can probably recover much faster.” Takemi walked around to look at Akira, forcing him to open his mouth so she could flash a light down his throat. “It looks bad, but I imagine you have something you’re in the middle of trying to take care of to clear your name right?” 

“Yes.” 

“Well, I’ll give you something to keep the pain down, until you can fix yourself up.” Takemi stepped back. “The only other advice I can give is to keep _him_ close,” Takemi jabbed a thumb back at Akechi,” relapse is a serious thing that can happen in the first few weeks after hanahaki clears. Especially in cases where death almost occurred. Even if you feel confident now the anxiety can sneak in and a lack of revalidation can start a new garden.” 

“I’m not going anywhere.” Akechi promised. 

“Good. I like him and if he dies I know your face.” Takemi turned to Akechi with a smile. “I’ll be taking my leave now. As your GP I’m going to recommend a release tomorrow morning. I want to see you before you go home okay?” 

“Got it. Thanks Takemi-sensei.” 

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you worked it out.” Takemi smiled at Akira before turning to leave the room. 

Akechi waited a minute until he was sure she was gone before speaking,” She knows you’re a Phantom Thief?” 

‘A few people do… it was probably too convenient that the people who troubled them suddenly had changes of heart after I got involved. My bad.’’ 

Akechi let out an irritated sound before he looked around the room for something. There was a minute where Akira wondered if he was going to leave the room but instead he moved to Akira’s side to sit once again. 

“You are utterly exhausting.” Akechi mumbled. Akira smiled as he shifted closer to Akechi motioning for his hand. For a moment Akechi just stared at him before he let out a sigh then took Akira’s hand and held it. “Get some rest.”

__________________________________________________________

The next Akira woke up he could hear Akechi speaking before he could actually understand any of the words. He cracked an eye open to spot Yusuke and Makoto standing at the end of the bed. His unruly bangs were doing a great job of hiding the fact he had woke up so no one noticed him yet.

“Maybe we should come back when he’s awake.” Makoto said quietly. 

“He wanted to be woken up.” Akechi moved a hand up to Akira’s shoulder to shake him softly. 

“You suddenly care about what he wants?” Yusuke questioned with probably too much spite in his tone. Akechi stopped trying to wake Akira at this. “You were pretty content telling him you didn’t want to see him anymore after this palace.” 

“There are things you don’t know.” Akechi defended himself. “I plan to explain myself tomorrow night.” 

“I really hope you do.” Makoto said next. She sounded about as enthused as Yusuke did. Akira felt pretty sure that if it were up to them Akechi wouldn’t be the one staying by Akira’s side right now.

“I’ve come to the understanding you all know something about my situation.” Akechi’s fingers tightened on Akira’s hand. “I’m going to tell you everything, but I want to explain it to everyone together.” 

“So, we should go to Leblanc tomorrow after he’s released?” Makoto questioned. 

“Yes,” Akechi answered,” I will tell you everything there.” 

“Good,” Makoto placed a bag on the end of the bed,” I’m going to tell everyone we’ll meet at after school. These are the clothes Futaba and Ryuji got for you. Please make sure you treat him fairly.” Makoto warned Akechi before she gave Yusuke a look and the two of them left.

Akechi let out a long breath once the door shut. He pressed his face into his one hand to mumble,” I just hope you can forgive me.” Akira considered his options, he could let Akechi know he was awake and try to talk to him. Akechi had made it clear he wouldn’t talk without everyone present. So then there was the idea that Akira could just comfort him. That didn’t need words at least. 

So Akira decided to just comfort Akechi as he gave Akechi’s hand a tighter squeeze as he rubbed his thumb over the top. Akechi stiffened for a moment before he forced himself to relax and place another hand over Akira’s to just hold. The hold was comforting enough to lull Akira back to sleep.

__________________________________________________________

This time when Akira awoke he was not in the hospital. He was in the Velvet Room. With a roll of his eyes, he looked to the side to check for plants. He couldn’t see any from his position laying down so he got up to his feet to look around. There were cracks here and there where the flowers had grown into but there were almost none left. Akira stood to move to the bars and look out at the Velvet Room.

Last time he had been in here the flower over Igor’s head had fully bloomed. It was still there but rather than stopping just above the siren it took it over and the red petals stained blue. The equipment Akira normally used for fusing personas was clear of most plants now, only little ones hanging on the sides still remained in place. It looked like a cute kind of decoration instead of a sign of his death.

“Good job, inmate.” Caroline grinned from the other side of the bars. “You managed to avoid dying. Barely.” 

“Yeah, it was close.” Akira said almost a little startled by his own voice. Clearly his physical injuries wouldn’t stop his mental prison self from being able to talk.

“It was,” Justine confirmed,” however you were dragged back from the brink and as such have achieved one of your goals, a rather important one.” Justine looked through her clipboard. “As a reward we have deemed you strong enough to be allowed to use the personas of former Velvet Room guests.” 

“Former?” Akira raised an eyebrow. 

“Our master has been assisting young heroes in the Velvet Room for a very long time and with each guest a new, unique, persona of the Fool arcana left its mark.” Justine explained. “Yours is Arsene. The one before you was Izanagi, and the one before him was Opheus. Each guest leaves their mark in the book.” Justine paused in her explanation before looking troubled,” the book?” 

“I remember other personas.” Caroline looked thoughtful,” Messiah, Thanatos, and Kaguya?” The twins looked at one another with perplexed expressions before glancing back toward Igor who simply stared on, smiling as always. 

“Nonetheless,” Justine turned back to Akira,” you’ll have access to the power of former guests. Please use that to your advantage in the days to come.” 

“Conquer the ruin coming for you.” Caroline demanded before Akira was dragged back into a dreamless sleep.

__________________________________________________________

The following morning Akira woke to Akechi gone. He sat up to look around the room wondering where he had vanished to like maybe he’d just fallen out of his chair and passed out. Akira searched around for his phone to send him a message when the door opened and Akechi came in, rather looking cleaned up and a little rested. He was carrying a tray of food in his hands. He carefully moved into the room before looking at Akira,” Oh good you’re awake,” Akechi walked over to him to set the tray down on the table that swung over the bed,” once the doctor gives you the clear we can leave. Boss will pick us up in the car.”

Akira watched as Akechi tested the coffee he had brought by holding it between his hands,” it’s not Leblanc but it’s coffee. Sorry about the temperature of everything. They told me you can only have room temp soft food until your throat is healed up some. Nothing too hot and nothing too cold.” Akira nodded, taking the coffee to take a careful sip. It stung a little but he was able to actually swallow it.

“Futaba brought some clothes for you,” Akechi pulled a bag up from the ground,” then Boss dragged her home since she was running on fumes.” Akira nodded in understanding again before he continued to attempt eating. He was making a mental list of things to ask about when it came time for Akechi to explain his actions and maybe learn what the hell was happening. Akira desperately wanted to hear that they understood things wrong, that Akechi didn’t kill Haru’s father or anyone for that matter.

Once Akira finished eating the nurse came in to check him over before clearing him for release. It was just before noon when Akechi rolled Akira out of the hospital in a wheelchair toward Sojiro’s car. 

“Hey guys,” Sojiro greeted them,” Takemi-sensei came by telling me to drop you by her clinic first. So I’ll take you near that way then meet you at the cafe after.” 

“Of course. She came by to see us yesterday.” Akechi spoke, helping Akira out of the wheelchair to move him to the car.

Akira waved him off trying to say he could walk on his own. Once the two were in the car Sojiro drove them back to Yongen-Jaya. He dropped them off as close to Takemi’s clinic as he could before heading off to park back home.

The check up with Takemi was short, she gave Akira some medication for pain before sending the boys off to Leblanc. As they got close Akechi grabbed Akira’s wrist to stop him. “Before we go in…” Akira turned to face Akechi with a raised eyebrow,” I didn’t want to cut you off. I mean when I was talking about not seeing you anymore after Sae-san’s palace.” Akechi met Akira’s eyes. “I only said that because I thought it was the only way to save you. I wanted to make you hate me…” Akira tilted his head to one side to try and convey more confusion before he reached to touch Akechi’s arm. 

If he could talk Akira would have tried to comfort him with words but he couldn’t speak so he instead gave Akechi a hug. Akechi stiffened from the sudden embrace before he let out a sigh and returned it. “Time to try and explain myself. I’m not looking forward to this…” 

Akira pulled away from Akechi to pat him on the shoulder then headed into the cafe. Everyone was there waiting for him, even Sojiro had made his way there. “Welcome back.” Sojiro greeted before everyone else jumped to their feet to rush Akira.

“Dude I was so worried about you!” Ryuji swung an arm around Akira’s shoulders to drag him forward into the group.

Akira gave everyone a hug and a smile to let them get the stress out before all eyes were on Akechi. He hadn’t moved in from the door and looked like he was going to run out but he looked at Akira which seemed to help. “I have a lot to tell you.” 

“This is Phantom Thieves business right?” Sojiro questioned,” I’ll close the shop and you can talk down here.” Sojiro made his way around the counter to put his apron down and locked the door on his way out to flip the sign to closed. He then returned to sit behind the counter, he wanted to know and Akira couldn’t blame him. They had mentioned that all of this was related to how Wakaba died.

“It’s nice to not have to keep our voices down in case of customers.” Yusuke commented as he took a seat at the bar. “So, what would you like to tell us Akechi?” 

Akira decided to slide into a booth before looking at Akechi to patting the spot next to him. Akechi stared at him for a minute before he made his way over to sit with Akira. “So… I think you know something about what’s going on with me but I’ll start from the beginning.” Akechi looked around at everyone. “I’m the one we’ve been calling the villain of the Metaverse.”

“Well no shit.” Ryuji said with a roll of his eyes.

“Did you kill my mom?” Futaba questioned next before Akira tapped on the table to get everyone to look at him. He motioned at Akechi then looked at Akechi to encourage him to continue speaking. 

“I am the reason why your mother fell into the road.” Akechi admitted bitterly and Akira frowned. He had hoped this wasn’t the case. “I started my trips into the Metaverse two and a half years ago. The person I worked for was rather pleased with my skills and wanted to use them to expand his own political powers. It wasn’t so bad at first but the longer it went on…

“Let me start by telling you he started to use what power he had to round up anyone studying cognitive psience. Once he had enough researchers for _his_ cause he started to silence the rest. He cut funding, defamed others, and when that wouldn’t work he had some killed… There was a short time where Wakaba Ishiki worked for him. She was one of the best in the field so he brought her on to get a deeper understanding. She was there before me, then gone from the project shortly after.” Akechi looked from Futaba to Sojiro. “When she left she had been told not to pursue her research any longer but she refused. She knew all of his tricks so she was able to side step a lot of his attempts to silence her. As a last resort I was sent in. I was still figuring out my power, but I went in with the intention to just cause a mental shutdown. To put her into a coma.

“But it didn’t take right away. I didn’t know then that people could still maneuver around for some time before the coma takes. So she didn’t stay asleep when I thought she would. She got up and started to move around. I thought maybe I needed to try again somehow but then she collapsed into the road and died as a result because I was trying to force a coma on her. Her death is on my hands and I make no excuses.” Akechi bowed his head. 

“What about Haru’s dad then?” Ryuji asked. 

“My former employer ordered me to kill him. I didn’t want to. It’s little comfort but it was during Okumura’s palace that I started to realize I loved him.” Akechi motioned to Akira. “It was too little too late for the Shujin Principal though… But when I realized how I felt I decided I needed to try and atone for what I had done already.

“Over the years after Ishiki’s death I learned how to cause safe shutdowns and I determined their timings. I perfected putting people into comas to remove them safely from positions of power. Some of them needed a sterner hand but I simply imprinted on those shadows to go back and do something. Sometimes it was to harass others, other times it was to commit easy to solve crimes. Can you guess how I solved some of my more high profile cases?

“But as I said, I wanted to atone, so I decided to do things my way and put Okumura into a coma. There’s a chance to come back from it and I wanted to give Haru some hope.” Akechi looked at Haru. “My delay at the end of his palace was to force him into a coma. I succeeded in that as I had done countless times. However, the man I worked for wasn’t satisfied with that. He called for a hit on Okumura that was done in such a way it appeared to be related to his coma.” Akechi explained. “Please believe that I never had any intention of killing your father, Haru.” 

Haru stared at Akechi for a long time before she slowly smiled and said,” I believe you.” 

“For real?” Ryuji didn’t look convinced. 

“Yes.” Haru answered, looking from Akechi to Akira with knowing eyes then back. “My question is why would you entertain the idea of killing our leader who you clearly love?” 

“That’s… a bit more complicated.” Akechi looked troubled. “After disobeying my orders to kill Okumura I was called to my former employer’s office. To say he was angry would be an understatement. He made my position in his eyes very clear. I was his puppet to control and if I disobeyed again I would be punished.” Akechi shook his head. “I didn’t really care what he had to say at first, he couldn’t possibly hurt me in any meaningful way. He knew that already though, and turned it into a threat on Akira’s life.” Akechi motioned to Akira. “He told me that he would kill him if I disobeyed again.” 

“So that’s why you agreed to what he said on the phone,” Makoto surmised,” but… Do they not know who we are?” 

“I never gave names. I didn’t even tell him I was involved with you until just before Okumura’s palace. But that’s where you figured me out?” Akechi wondered. “You bugged my phone?” 

“It was after Okumura’s palace. And we had to.” Ann replied. “Something fishy was going on and we needed to know the truth before telling Akira.” 

“I see.” Akechi looked from Ann to Futaba who hadn’t looked at him since he admitted to murdering her mother.

“So, you don’t want him dead obviously,” Yusuke said,” what plan did you have to avoid that?” 

“I was working through my plan the night his hanahaki nearly killed him,” Akechi explained,” my intention was to cut the cord. I was starting to leave clues of my deception where I thought they would be obvious. I just didn’t realize I was already leaving them… Anyway, I was going to make the fact I was the villain obvious. On the night of Sae-san’s heist I was going to attack you. I was going to push one of you hard enough to kill me.” Akira stiffened at this admission. Why would Akechi think his death was the only way forward? Why didn’t he trust them?

Akira took out his phone to send a message to Akechi who read it out,” You should have trusted us to be able to help you.” Akechi looked at Akira for a moment before saying,” they have more connections than you know and if I were suspected of mutiny, you would’ve been killed here in the real world where you can’t fight back. That’s why I took you to Mementos to test you. I realized your strength was less than what it used to be while I was stronger than ever. I pushed you because I needed you to be strong enough to kill me.” 

“You guys fought in the Mementos!?” Morgana questioned. 

“Yes. I just wanted to test him.” Akechi explained. 

“Your mask in the Metaverse isn’t black,” Futaba said at last,” why?” 

“I have a similar power to his,” Akechi motioned to Akira,” I have more than one persona. My original persona has a special power to help me accomplish odd tasks among other things.” Akechi explained. “Like changing my clothing or suppressing my Metaverse outfit as I did when in Kaneshiro’s palace the first time.” 

Akira recalled that time before something clicked and he sent another message. “That was why I didn’t hear that gross flesh ripping sound from you when you ‘awakened’ to Robin Hood.” Akechi read then nodded. “I didn’t realize that was part of it… I did only get to watch Makoto-chan awaken from a distance. I tried to simulate that as best I could.” Akechi explained himself. “My original awakening was too long ago for me to recall all the finer details.”

“So why join us?” Ann asked. “Did you plan it from the start?”

“I didn’t. I was genuinely surprised when I saw you enter the Metaverse. I was honest when I said I was getting closer to greet Akira.” Akechi motioned to Akira. “When I found out what was going on I thought that I could spin it to my advantage.” 

“And you never told anyone who we were? You’re sure?” Makoto asked. 

“I admitted to being part of the team, but I didn’t disclose names.” Akechi shook his head. “I guess maybe I wanted to leave my options open.” Akechi looked at Akira. 

“Who was backing you?” Sojiro finally decided to ask after being silent for so long.

“Masayoshi Shido.” Akechi answered after a long pause. “He’s a politician currently trying to secede from his current political group so he may form another to run for Prime Minister.” 

“Shit.” Sojiro dragged a hand through his hair. “Seriously? Shido?” 

“Everything is connected to him.” Akechi admitted.

“So… why did you start working for him?” Futaba questioned. 

“Shido is... my father,” Akechi admitted and suddenly Akira understood what it was that he was trying to accomplish,” I wanted to build him up to his highest point to make dragging him into the mud that much more satisfying. I’ve already told Akira about this but my mother had an affair with the man who left her quickly after finding out she was with child. She tried to raise me alone since Shido abandoned us, yet she still loved him but he didn’t love her. She suffered from hanahaki. She raised me for years while being in and out of hospitals to remove her garden, while working at a nightclub. Her hanahaki would always come back though and it came back because of me. I was all the reminder she needed of Shido.” During his explanation Akechi’s hand found Akira’s to squeeze it tightly. “I had planned to help Shido to fulfill his dream then expose that I was his illegitimate child and ruin him. But for my revenge I killed people.”

Uncomfortable and cold silence fell over the group as they tried to swallow what Akechi had told them. They knew that meddling with hearts had it’s dangers and, that it could kill people. They had worked hard to avoid killing anyone but they all knew one wrong push could be too much for anyone they stole the heart of. Akira thought about how easy it really would be to murder someone as he gripped Akechi’s hand tightly. 

“I think it would be good for you to really join us Akechi-kun.” Haru finally said, earning a lot of surprised looks. “I mean it. You’ve been pretending to be a person apart from us from the start. A consultant. But I think you’re just like us. You’re trying to punish an adult that hurt you. I think we all know that feeling in some way or another but I feel like your pain is more than any of us could ever understand.” Haru folded her hands together on the table. “I know what you did to my father, but I know there are people behind you pulling at your strings. I don’t think I could ever fully forgive you, but you’re obviously important to Akira, and that matters to me.” 

“I…” Futaba looked troubled as she tried to figure out what she wanted to say. She cast her eyes around the group before looking at Akira. “I’m with Haru. She’s right that I probably won’t ever forgive you, but you also helped me and I want to believe that was on purpose.” 

“It was…” Akechi admitted but let it trail off before he continued,” I started to spend time here at the cafe as a way to check in on you because I knew what I did to you. I had no idea they read the fake letter to you and made you believe it was your fault. They never should have made you believe that.” Akechi kept eye contact with Futaba as he explained himself. “I will spend my life making up for what I’ve done.” 

“You were used by shitty adults.” Ryuji said after another long silence. “I understand that feeling. Like Haru said, I think all of us do.” 

“One more question,” Sojiro spoke up,” when you started to work with Shido did you intend to kill people?” 

“No, at first all I had intended was to cause changes of cognition, but then Shido… he had other plans.” Akechi squeezed Akira’s hand tighter. “The psicientists he had working for him devised how to actually kill people with the power. Different techniques could kill at different times or in different ways. It’s possible to turn someone into a time bomb and hurt a lot of people or remove someone quietly with a heart attack. My abilities give me the power to do those types of things. He started to get more daring lately and the Phantom Thieves provided the perfect cover.”

“And because he threatened to kill Akira you did as you were told?” Makoto questioned.

“Yes,” Akechi looked around at the group,” he’s got enough power where he could easily make everyone in this room vanish without anyone giving a damn about you.”

“People already don’t give a damn about us.” Ryuji sat back scratching the side of his head. “But I see your point. This shit sucks.” 

“Well, after we finish this heist I think it sounds like we’re moving onto Shido. No way a guy like that doesn’t have a palace.” Futaba adjusted her glasses. “We’ll change his heart too and make him confess everything.”

“You sound so certain.” Akechi spoke without any bite to his words. Akira suspected he was just glad to have a few teens and their pet not-cat screaming at him.

“I guess that entirely depends on you.” Makoto said, staring him down. “Are you really not going to kill him?” She motioned at Akira.

“I do care for him.” Akechi admitted. “If I didn’t, he would have died in Shibuya and I wouldn’t be here.” 

“So are you really going to join us then?” Yusuke decided to ask.

“I had considered myself a real Phantom Thief when I decided to defy Shido’s orders.” Akechi nodde. “I just regret not trusting you to help me when he threatened Akira’s life.” Akechi looked around the room. “At any rate, you knew I was supposedly going to try killing him. I hope you had a plan in place to work against me.” 

“We do…” Makoto glanced to Akira,” most of them hinged on the idea that you were really going to get him arrested.” 

“Excuse me?” Akechi raised an eyebrow.

“We were going to fake his death.” Yusuke explained.

“How?” Akechi questioned with a narrow gaze before Akira used his free hand to send a message. “With cognitive doubles and a lot of faith. Seriously?” Akechi looked at him with an annoyed expression like he doubted their plan before he’d heard it.

“Should we tell him?” Futaba questioned.

“If you don’t trust me that’s fine. I don’t expect you to believe me when I say I want him alive.” Akechi glanced at Akira. “I got to experience the momentary feeling of what it was like with him seemingly dead. I don’t ever want to experience that again. The only problem with this is if they suspect I am no longer a double agent for them they’ll send assassins after us and be done with it.”

“Assassins?!” Ryuji shouted.

“Yes, real ones. On this plane of existence.” Akechi touched the table with his free hand to make a point. “This is very serious. Shido has been using a platform of denouncing us to gain public traction and get himself elected. Between that and all the other runners dropping out he’ll be a shoe in to get elected. When that happens he’ll move swiftly to remove any one who can link him back to the mental breakdowns.”

“So, we need to make you a convincing double agent when you’re a triple?” Ryuji thought. 

“That would imply I’m with yet another organization.” Akechi shook his head correcting Ryuji. “I’m simply flipping my stance on who I’m feeding real information to. A reverse.” 

“Well, what’s your call?” Makoto looked at Akira. “You’re our leader. We kind of already discussed this possibility and we’ll leave it up to what your choice is.” 

Akira looked around the room before looking at his phone. He typed into the non-Akechi group chat then sent it off without much need for thinking behind it. Yusuke was the one to read his message so Sojiro would understand as well,” Tell him.”

“Okay.” Makoto nodded.

“I’ll make some coffee,” Sojiro popped his apron back on. “Think you can help me out?” He questioned Akira who nodded. Akechi let him get out before he sat back down across from Makoto and listened.

Makoto started from the point of them scouting the area around Sae’s palace for their plan. Her expression was perfectly neutral as she explained that Akira would be telling Sae about everything, hoping Akira could tell a convincing story, and then showing Akechi the phone to pull him into the Metaverse. Futaba took a turn there talking about the technical aspects of the plan and by the end of the explanation Akechi looked impressed.

“I wouldn’t have even been insulted had this plan come to pass. I had no idea there was a bug on my phone.” Akechi looked at his phone.

“Yeah well, turns out we’re pretty smart when we gotta be.” Futaba grinned. “Also I’m not taking it off until we’re sure things are safe. You understand.”

“I do.”

“Good, so be a good detective and just keep using your phone like normal.” Futaba warned him, earning a nod from Akechi.

Akira went around passing out coffee, and juice for Ryuji, before taking his seat next to Akechi once more as Yusuke spoke,” We took a bit of it on faith. There was no way to know if he really will end up going to the basement interrogation. The biggest gamble rests on if Sae-san would show you his phone or not.”

“Yeah, without that we wouldn’t be able to set off the Meta-Nav to get you to kill not-Akira.” Futaba explained. “I made a program on the phone that works to imitate a finger press on the screen so it would have loaded the app even if his phone was locked.”

“I’m impressed. Kudos.” Akechi turned the coffee mug in his hands as he thought on what he wanted to say. “Let’s continue your plan as it is then.” 

“What do you mean?” Yusuke asked.

“We’ll go forward with faking his death. Shido will think he’s dead and I’ll insist that without him you can’t function as a team.” Akechi explained. “This is a good way to see if you can sway Sae-san to our side. If you can, without actually changing her heart, she’ll be a very powerful ally.”

“That’s what I was thinking as well.” Makoto agreed. “It would be nice to know there’d be at least one procecuter ready to actually go after Shido in court. He’s got to have a lot of them in his pocket.” 

“He does. The director of the SIU is on his payroll.” Akechi revealed. 

“SIU?” Ryuji questioned. 

“Special Investigations Unit.” Futaba answered. “We already talked about this Ryuji. They’re the best investigative team in the entire country. Once they’re after someone you don’t get away.” 

“Shit.” Ryuji cursed. “This one is gunna be hard huh? Wonder if he has some kind of shield around his palace.” 

“It wouldn’t surprise me if he does.” Akechi mused after a drink of coffee. “Shido knows quite a lot about cognitive psience. He’s only shared so much with me. Probably to keep me under his thumb. I can only imagine what he has at his disposal. Which begs to reason that he is very dangerous. Whatever plans involve him need to be met with very careful planning and must fall in line with the idea that the Thieves are in disarray after his death.” Akechi motions to Akira. “We’ll carry on like nothing has changed. If you don’t trust me still… I don’t know what I can do to convince you I don’t plan to kill him.” 

“Well, you kinda already proved it maybe?” Ryuji spoke earning looks of confusion all around. “He realized Akira was dying to hanahaki and then confessed to make him not die?” 

“Ryuji does pose a good point.” Yusuke hummed tapping his chin. “If not for that we wouldn’t be here right now in this way. We’d be in mourning instead.” 

“True.” Haru had to agree. “Well, we’ll just have to trust him right, Akira-kun?” At her question Akira smiled and nodded.

They could make this work. They had Akechi, no, Goro, on their side now. One way or another they were going to make it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i got a tonne of positive feed back from the last chapter and honestly i’m ultra flattered about it all. i even started a discord server after my husband mentioned i should try it out and there’s like twenty of you guys in here. it actually makes me a little nervous to think that there are so many of you that want to talk to me on top of reading this fic? like… HO BOY. thank you all so much. this chapter has me changing a few things because it’s what i do and it’s fan fiction.
> 
> i don’t have much to say right now. i played the new patch for ffxiv yesterday and cried so much my eyes got all red and puffy. i love you all. and thank you so much.
> 
> preview: __
> 
> _“Yeah,” Akira answered wondering what the phone call had been about. Judging from Goro’s face, it might have been from Shido,” what’s on your mind?”_
> 
> _“A lot.” Goro said with a note of finality in his voice, Akira wondered if Goro was going to say more than two words to him._
> 
> _“Care to share?”_  
> 


	25. i will protect you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akira uses metaverse magic to heal his throat. goro makes akira promise something but akira makes a silent promise to himself instead. goro then asks something impossible of akira.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sup team? guessss what? that's right. it's warning time. THERE IS SEX IN THIS CHAPTER. i'll mark it off with ★★★ so watch for that if you don't wanna read the sex.

**_STAR WARS EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS_ **

**__** **_{_ ** _8:12am: **jojo reference** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**jojo reference changed Akira’s name to prolly not dying anymore.**

**prolly not dying anymore:** what up team? new name, new me.  
**banana_hammock:** sup dude?  
**banana_hammock:** you healin good?  
**prolly not dying anymore:** yeah, my room is fucking immaculate which is weird. goro won’t share a bed with me though. i’m sad.  
**tiny pizza table:** he’s a tsundere. this doesn’t surprise me.  
**Pixar Mom:** How are you feeling Akira?  
**prolly not dying anymore:** about the situation or being in a cold bed by myself?  
**Pixar Mom:** We are moving this conversation completely away from your bed. The situation.  
**Pixar Mom** : You can’t exactly talk right now.  
**my gf is hotter than urs:** yeah i’m with makoto here. he didn’t like, trick you or anything?  
**tiny pizza table:** omg. akechi bewitched his dick and now he’ll do all his bidding.  
**prolly not dying anymore:** he bewitched my dick ages ago.  
**T & Tea:** That is troubling.  
**prolly not dying anymore:** I’m sorry Haru that was inappropriate.  
**T & Tea:** It’s alright! I don’t know what it’s like to have a dick bewitched but I support you Akira-kun.  
**prolly not dying anymore:** Haru!!!!! I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
**T & Tea:** I love you too! 💜  
**prolly not dying anymore:** haru if i weren’t a stupid disaster gay i’d date you.  
**T & Tea:** You’re not stupid!  
**prolly not dying anymore:** if goro literally didn’t have to pull the hanahaki out of my throat with his own two hands i’d be asking you to marry me right now haru.  
**banana_hammock:** bro r u sure ok?  
**prolly not dying anymore:** there might be some ptsd involved. i should message maruki and see if he’ll still see me after he leaves… maybe see if goro will see him too. might help.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad:** I have some concerns about what Akechi is truly planning.  
**prolly not dying anymore:** i mean...same. but also we literally do not have a choice at this point but to trust him. we told him the plan. so i either die like the idiot gay i am or i live to maybe get the M rated stuff.  
**Pixar Mom:** ….Really?  
**prolly not dying anymore:** i just want to get laid once before i die makoto  
**tiny pizza table:** didn’t you and yusuke bang?  
**prolly not dying anymore:** i just want to get laid by my not-bf before i die makoto.  
**my gf is hotter than urs:** akira you really are a disaster.  
**prolly not dying anymore:** i’ve been saying that for months.  
**my gf is hotter than urs:** we’ll keep an eye on akechi and you. last thing we need is for you to dive into danger dick first.  
**prolly not dying anymore:** ann, i always dive dick first into danger.  
**Pixar Mom** : That’s actually something I’m worried about.  
**Pixar Mom** : If you can’t talk how are we doing forward with this plan?  
**prolly not dying anymore** : i have a plan.  
**Pixar Mom:** Which is?  
**prolly not dying anymore** : magic.  
**Pixar Mom** : …  
**prolly not dying anymore** : dia.  
**Pixar Mm** : Oh.  
**prolly not dying anymore** : if it works i’ll be able to talk!  
**prolly not dying anymore** : if not… uh… then we’ll talk about it. maybe i can write an essay.  
**prolly not dying anymore** : makoto does your sister like single or double spaced?  
**prolly not dying anymore** : and can i use comic sans?  
**Pixar Mom:** Alright that’s enough. The rest of us are in school so phones away!  
**prolly not dying anymore:** ok mom. have fun everyone. dodge chalk for me.  
**banana_hammock:** ill swing by after school to hang bro  
**prolly not dying anymore: 👍** bring me a beef bowl.  
**banana_hammock:** can you actually eat it?  
**prolly not dying anymore:** well… no… NOT YET.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:17am: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : help me.  
**Goro** : With?  
**Akira** : i want to go to mementos.  
**Goro** : …why?  
**Akira** : i want to see if a dia spell will help the healing.  
**Goro** : Ah.  
**Akira** : i’ll go by myself if i have to.  
**Goro** : No, I’ll go.  
**Akira** : 💘  
**Akira** : We’re taking Mona.  
**Goro** : Fine.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

After a short trip to Shibuya, Akira took the three of them into Mementos. He looked over to the Velvet Room reminding himself that he should rethink his persona cast later. For now he just needed to try healing. 

“Mona,” Goro drew Morgana’s attention,” I believe you have dia right?” 

“Yeah.” Morgana faced Akira then summoned his persona to try healing him. Akira closed his eyes as the flash of light from Morgana was just a tad too bright but after it passed he swallowed. There was still a little pain but it wasn’t too bad,” Well, Joker?” 

“Yay?” Akira spoke. His voice sounded horrible but he could talk and it didn’t hurt too bad. “Look at that.” 

“Try another.” Goro frowned at the sound of Akira’s voice. 

“Yeah…” Morgana agreed before casting another spell,” better?” 

“I don’t feel different.” Akira admitted. It did help a tad more but there wasn’t much of a change. “I mean, there are times we still have injuries coming out of the Metaverse that have to heal normally.” Akira shrugged. 

“Yes, I believe that the worst of the damage has been taken care of.” Goro nodded.

“So…” Akira placed a hand on his hip and motioned around Goro,” about your look. This is because of your second persona?” 

“Yes.” Goro confirmed. “I suppose that there’s no point hiding it anymore.” Goro touched the side of his head thoughtfully before pulling off his red mask. As he did a blue and white fire started from his feet to envelop his whole body until it burned away and he stood in a black striped outfit with a full black helmet on. “This is it.” 

“Your… shoes look like hooves.” Akira pointed.

“That’s your take away?” Goro shook his head. 

“Your mask looks like a crow’s head. Suddenly your name makes a lot more sense.” Morgana pointed at Goro. “You weren’t trying to be clever about your name, you were hinting at your real appearance.” 

“Correct.” Goro answered. “At the time I had no reason to believe then that it would ever come up though. I thought I was being clever.” 

“I don’t like it.” Akira complained, earning a pair of confused looks. “This outfit. It’s too… spiky?” 

“And Makoto-chan’s isn’t?” Akechi frowned. 

“Well, yeah, but…” Akira stepped closer. He wanted to say something dumb and mildly flirty but decided not to.

“I don’t see why it matters.” Goro shrugged. 

“Hmmm,” Akira mused,” well, wait here a second.” 

“Where are you going?” Goro looked at him suspiciously. 

“Physically? Not far.” Akira turned to walk toward the Velvet Room to head inside. He wanted to use the new persona he was told he could use now. He didn’t know anything about them but if there had been previous Velvet Room guests then maybe they were strong, or they could be remnants of dead users. There was a horrifying thought.

After fusing away a few persona Akira paid to summon the persona called Thanatos and another called Izanagi. He wondered how strong they were and would be sure to use them in the next fight. Once he was done he left again more to find Goro and Morgana speaking. 

“I’ve been worrying about him every time he does this.” Morgana frowned. “It’s like he just checks out?” 

“Every time he does it, for however long, he always comes back with a different persona.” Goro mused. “Maybe he’s mentally shuffling them around somehow?” 

“You can use two, what do you do?” 

“I just… well…” Goro motioned oddly with his hands trying to explain how he switches personas. 

“You just kind of feel it.” Akira announced as he walked back over. “I’m all set.” 

“You changed personas again didn’t you?” Goro questioned. 

“I did. The magical game overlords gave me some new powerful ones to use.” Akira adjusted his mask as he would if it had his glasses on. It really was a physical habit of his at this point. “So… can I request a different outfit? Something less spiky?” 

“You’re going to go on about this until I change aren’t you?” Goro questioned flatly. “I think I’m starting to miss when you couldn’t speak.”

“Fair. But also consider that some might get upset about the black mask.” Morgana noted. “This version of you killed and hurt people. If you use it you might be making the unintentional statement that you’re going to do it again.” 

“Hm. I see your point.” Goro looked thoughtful. “My old look is also not good in that it’s a reminder of my lying and deceiving you all.” Goro hummed as he looked around the area before his eyes fell on Akira. After a minute of just staring, the same white and blue fire raced up Goro’s body. After a few seconds the flames vanished and Goro stood in another outfit. 

It was similar to his old white one in the color scheme but added parts of black. It lacked the red cape from before and his coat was now long like Akira’s. It still retained the small collar of his white coat; however it was open now. Rather than being all white, red, and gold the outfit had stripes of black with his slacks being all black accented by gold stripes down the sides of his legs which vanished into knee high black boots.

The cuffs of his new coat were black with a black stripe trimmed in gold stretching along the side of his arm. The front where the coat was opened revealed a red vest with the same gold clasps as his old white one. The belt that had been a decoration around the middle of his stomach was part of the jacket now instead and the A that adorned it was gone. However, when Goro turned around Akira could see that the wings from the collar of his coat had moved to his back with the A between the two wings in a circle to connect them as they spread from shoulder to shoulder.

Goro’s mask remained red for the most part though around his eyes was a black outline and the nose shrank back to look less like a plague doctor’s mask. Goro looked at his costume before adjusting his still white gloves to fit snug. “It seems this will be my outfit going forward.” 

“You make it sound like a surprise. I thought you picked yours?” Morgana pointed. 

“I just make the suggestion and the rest is up to my persona. Before it was ‘what would my justice look like to these fools?’ and that was the outfit that came from it. This is my thought of ‘what would my justice look like if it matched his?’ I feel like the translation of matching was taken a little too literally in this case but I do like the look.” Goro explained how it worked.

“It kept the shoulder pads and the tassles.” Akira mentioned as he took a walk around Goro.

“I liked them,” Goro explained,” and they’re not, as you said, spiky. I also rid myself of the ‘hooves’ as you described them. I don’t need to look like a demon, I’m not some grim reaper here.” 

“I like the look.” Akira nodded. “You still have that A. Back here.” Akira tapped the middle of Goro’s back.

“I was wondering.” Goro said as he removed the coat to look. The vest under was sleeveless so Goro’s bare arms were out and the vest framed him just right. It was almost sinful to look at. “I’m glad.” 

“It is for your name and not for like… a comic book right?” Akira had to ask. 

“It’s for my name.” Goro confirmed as he touched the A before he put his coat back on. “Akechi was my mother’s maiden name, and it’s the only thing of hers I have left. I carry that name with me proudly. She did everything she could for me and this is how I honor her.” 

“I think she’d be proud of you.” Morgana smiled. 

“I don’t know about that. I hurt a lot of people to get to this point. I think I have to earn that right back.” Goro touched the front of his coat. “Punishing Shido will be the closest I can get to earning the right to think she’d be proud of me.” 

“Yeah,” Akira nodded,” we’ll make him confess all of his crimes.” 

“I need to make one point before we go too far,” Goro looked at Akira,” when Shido goes down I will too.” Akira frowned. He knew that something would have to happen, but Akira wanted to believe they could make up for that. That they could find a way to save Goro too. “People will try to change the narrative and I have to make sure he’s punished and all those who helped him also fall. I need you to be okay with the fact I’ll go to prison for that.” 

“I will be.” Akira answered probably too quickly as Goro stepped closer to him. 

“You understand that you may not see me again unless through inches of glass, right?” Goro questioned. 

“I… I do.” Akira chewed the inside of his cheek. 

“You understand that I won’t be able to hold you after we change Shido’s heart?” Goro stared into Akira’s eyes and he could see the conviction there. He wanted to make sure Shido got his dues and was willing to sacrifice everything to ensure it happened.

“I understand.” Akira said again as he nodded. “I’ll just have to enjoy what time we have together now.” Akira reached a shy hand forward to take Goro’s hand and hold it. Goro didn’t pull away but wouldn’t meet Akira’s eyes. He was probably trying to figure out what to do now. Akira could relate to that.

There were sides of Goro that only Akira knew about. He showed him his weak side and his fearful side. Goro even told him things he’d never told anyone else and Akira would keep those close to his heart. 

Out of everyone Akira helped this person holding his hand was the most vulnerable and precious. Life hadn’t been kind to Goro Akechi and Akira would be damned if he wasn’t going to force a change of heart on the world if he had to. Goro would have to sacrifice so much so that Shido would be arrested but Akira didn’t want to let him go. He may have agreed with words, but Akira knew he wouldn’t be able to keep that promise.

Goro was a strong perona user and a brilliant mind but he had a fragile heart that had been guarded by thick walls and chainlink. Too bad for him that Akira was a masterful Thief and not even the strongest security was able to keep him out.

So now that his heart was bare to Akira, he would burn the city to the ground to protect it.

_________________________________________________

The afternoon came with Ryuji stopping by to hang out. Goro decided to excuse himself by going home for a few more changes of clothes so he could remain with Akira for a while longer without it being too troubling. He also needed to clean his uniform somehow and would be at the laundromat across from Leblanc when Ryuji was gone.

Ryuji greeted him with bowls of beef and a pack of ramune. With one of his signature grins Ryuji set them up in Akira’s bedroom,” So can you actually eat any of this?” 

“I sound like I’m speaking through a wet speaker but I’m okay to eat anything now.” Akira gave a thumbs up. “I saw Takemi after we did a quick stop in Mementos to try a healing spell. Did weeks of healing all at once. My voice should return to normal eventually.” 

“Oh good, because yeah, you sound like shit.” Ryuji teased him. “So, you really trust Akechi now?” 

“I have a very complicated relationship with him.” Akira shrugged. “But I trust him with my life. I mean, he saved me once already. Just have to hope he’ll do it again.”

“I’d fuckin’ hope so! We already spilled all the beans.” Ryuji frowned between bites of beef bowl. “And who’s to say anything he told us is true?” 

“I dunno, for now I just want to try trusting him. He’s been through hell too.” Akira stared at his food. “When I started to spend time with him I knew there was something more going on with him. I just didn’t expect it to all go sideways like this.”

“Did he ever actually know you had a crush on him?” Ryuji questioned. 

“Yeah. For a while I guess? He didn’t tell me exactly when he figured me out. But I got more flirty after that social studies trip. So maybe then?” 

“So like, as soon as we met him at the TV station? The hanahaki got worse then too?” 

“Seems like it. He’s been coming to the cafe for as long as I’ve been here so it could have seeded at any time. Takemi said ficus roots could only be removed if caught pretty much right away. And I know this isn’t the first time I've had hanahaki in my lungs.” Akira pushed some rice around. “When I was little I ended up with it. My parents didn’t even wait to see if I could work up the guts to say anything to the person it was for. I got the surgery before I realized what was going on and changed schools. I used to get chest x-rays a lot so now I understand why.”

“Why change schools?” 

“They were worried about a relapse. It can happen and repeatedly if certain reminders are around. I don’t even remember if it was someone I went to school with.”

“Shit bro,” Ryuji frowned,” that’s rough. Did you ever find out who it was for?” 

“Nah, honestly after it was over I was kind of glad.” Akira admitted,” If we weren’t so deep in with Phantom Thieves stuff and ficus didn’t spell death I might have just done it again. The surgery that is. Don’t tell him I said that.” 

“Bro, I don’t think Akechi would give me the time of day if he could help it.” Ryuji shook his head. “But, uh, why would you get it taken out again?” 

“Let me say before I start that this scenario would be if I was not involved with the team.” Akira held up a finger then began to explain. “I’m only supposed to be here a year. Falling in love with someone here would have felt pretty pointless. When I started out I didn’t even think I was going to be making friends. I had kind of decided to just keep my head down and mind my business.” Akira explained. “That obviously didn’t go to plan.”

“No shit bro,” Ryuji laughed,” but I get it. At least with friends you don’t have that hanging worry about faithfulness right?” 

“Oh no, if you and Yuuki started to hang out without telling me every single detail of your bro-date I would be inconsolable.” Akira made a dramatic motion with his hand against his forehead then let out a laugh. “You are right though. I think that might have been one of my hangups.”

“But stuff’s different than you expected.” Ryuji pressed on the topic.

“Yeah, but somehow I feel like even if I did start an honest relationship with someone here, again pretending this thing with Goro didn’t exist, it would last past me leaving. Something about being a Phantom Thief, the leader of said group, kind of did something for me. I’m not the wimpy shy kid that showed up here in April. If my parents actually take me back I’d like to think I’dl surprise them in a good way.” 

“Man, if your parents don’t take you back just stay in this attic and inherit the cafe from Sojiro after he adopts you.” Ryuji laughed. 

“It’s super tempting. If not a life as a barista I was thinking I could be a therapist. Maruki says I have a knack for it.” Akira joked as well. “I should set up a session with him. I think I have some stuff to unpack here.”

“Hey if it works for you then go for it.” Ryuji motioned with his ramune for a cheer. Akira clacked his bottle against Ryuji’s with a smile before their conversations went along to something much easier. They ate their beef bowls, played some games, then Ryuji went home. 

It had actually been nice to just talk to Ryuji as clearly as he did. Akira had been bottling too much up so releasing the tension had been good. Sure he told Maruki things, but being able to tell someone else so closely tied in with the situation just hit a different feeling for him. It made him feel so much lighter.

With Ryuji gone, Akira wandered over to the laundromat to watch Goro pull his uniform out of the washer and inspect it. Goro looked it over before glancing at Akira as he leaned against the door,” Sakamoto leave?” 

“Yeah,” Akira answered. “The blood come out?” 

“Surprisingly, yes. For how old these machines are they are quite effective.” Goro turned his jacket toward Akira before hanging it up. “I thought about dropping it off at a dry cleaners instead but it was a lot of blood…” Goro trailed off,” you’re sounding better.”

“Yeah, talking seems to be helping it.” Akira shifted so he was full body leaning against the entryway. “Are you going to go to school tomorrow?” 

“I have special privileges with my school for absences,” Goro explained,” however, I have some work I need to turn in tomorrow.” He turned to Akira after loading clothes into the dryer. “You still have the rest of the week before you have to return to school as well.” 

“Yeah,” Akira hummed. “I’ll get bored out of my skull if I have to just sit on my hands and wait so I think I’ll go back to school tomorrow anyway. I’ll have a lot of free time after we fake my death at any rate.”

“I see.” Goro nodded. “You’re sure you’re alright for it?” 

“Yeah, I’ll be alright.” Akira inspected under his nails. “I want to get back into a normalcy so school is a must, and I was thinking about Mementos.” 

“What about it?” 

“We still have floors left to cover. We haven’t been cut off by another one of those doors again yet.” Akira explained. “I’d like to try and reach the bottom if possible. Plus I want to get back into proper shape.”

“You still think that’ll be where we find out about Morgana?” Goro questioned moving around the washer to lean against the one nearest to Akira. “You’re thinking of that now?” 

“Of course. I did make a promise.” Akira shrugged. “Whatever he turns out to be I want to keep my word.”

“You’re quite good about keeping promises aren’t you?” Goro raised an eyebrow. “That personality of yours has gotten you into a lot of trouble you know?” 

“I know.” Akira smiled. “I guess I just have to prove that I’m not as bad as people think I am.” 

“As if you were ever bad,” Goro rolled his eyes softly. Silence fell between the two of them punctuated by the tumble of the dryer until a speech car began to drive by. “When I don’t have to hear his voice anymore I’ll be glad.” Goro groaned. 

“That’s…?” Akira felt like that voice was familiar. 

“Shido.” Goro explained but Akira was still thinking as he listened for a bit longer. “Something wrong?” 

“No. Just… familiar.” Akira touched his chin. 

“Familiar?” Goro raised an eyebrow before getting thoughtful. He stayed silent until Akira questioned what was on his mind. “I remember Shido left Tokyo sometime last year to campaign somewhere else. I didn’t care where at the time but maybe…” 

“Did he come back with a cut on his head?” Akira asked, earning a stare from Goro. “He did, didn't he?” 

“You have to be fucking with me.” Goro turned his head to glare in a random direction. “It was him. He ruined your life.” 

“It would make sense why his voice is familiar.” Akira agreed. “I wouldn’t say he ruined my life anyway, if he didn’t sue me I wouldn’t have met you or anyone else.” 

“Don’t try to ‘brightside’ me with this.” Goro looked unimpressed. 

“Fine I won’t,” Akira put his hands up,” but my point does hold some water. If not for him there’s no telling what would have happened. So I’m at least grateful I’m here with you.”

“Idiot.” Goro mumbled.

“So… are you going to sleep with me tonight or am I doomed to a cold bed again?” Akira wiggled his eyebrows.

“You’re surprisingly bold now that it’s out in the open,” Goro looked Akira over,” but I suppose I can entertain you. That sofa isn’t very comfortable.”

“I’ll be on my best behavior.” Akira promised. 

“I hope not too much…” Goro said with a sly smile on his face and Akira suddenly flushed,” that’s a good look on you.”

“S-shut up.” Akira covered part of his face.

“You’re easy to tease.” Goro laughed. “Who knows what might happen though. You should see about getting rid of Mona tonight. Hm?” Goro’s suggestion sent even more blood rushing to Akira’s face.

“O-okay.” Akira swallowed then turned to awkwardly walk away. He felt like a penguin on the march as he made his way back to Leblanc to settle down a little and message Futaba for backup. 

_** FUTABA SAKURA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _5:01pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira:** I desperately need you to take Mona tonight.  
**Futaba:** why????  
**Akira:** you’re too young to know.  
**Futaba:** are you and akechi going to boink?  
**Akira:** i refuse to answer that.  
**Futaba:** refusal is confirmation.  
**Akira:** fine. i’m going to try my best to get laid tonight. take the bossy cryptid with you.  
**Futaba:** i demand sushi for myself and mona after this.  
**Akira:** deal.  
**Futaba:** use protection. full plate armor recommended.  
**Akira:** thanks.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

After sending his message off to Futaba, Akira started to find what odd things he could to occupy his time. Goro returned to watch Akira with amusement on his face. Around nine when Sojiro was closing up Goro received a call and stepped out of the shop to talk. He didn’t return until nearly ten and he looked ragged suddenly,” How was your call??”

“Fine.” Goro answered simply as he took his seat across from Akira before resting his head on the counter. “Boss gone?”

“Yeah,” Akira answered wondering what the phone call had been about. Judging from Goro’s face, it might have been from Shido,” what’s on your mind?” 

“A lot.” Goro said with a note of finality in his voice, Akira wondered if Goro was going to say more than two words to him.

“Care to share?” 

“Is the cat around?”

“No. Sojiro took him. Futaba’s going to take care of him.” 

Silence fell between them for a long time. Akira wondered if there was just something that heavy on his mind or if he was trying to plan out something. Akira was just about to open his mouth to say something else when Goro finally spoke again. “If I suggested we jump on the last train out of the station and never look back would you go with me?” Goro looked deadly serious as he asked this and Akira felt a bit of whiplash. This was honestly the last thing he had expected Goro to say. 

“I’m guessing you don’t mean a weekend trip…” Akira tried to lighten the mood but Goro’s expression didn’t budge,” shit. Uh,” Akira looked around to try buying himself time though he knew what his answer was,” I can’t do that. Not with how things are.” He shook his head.

“Even if it guaranteed your life?” Goro’s tone was devoid of any kind of emotion and it left Akira feeling like this was a test on his mettle. 

“Goro, I was literally going to let myself maybe get shot by you or suffocate on flowers. Death doesn’t really scare me all that much.” Akira lied a little. Death had been terrifying but he needed a point to make a stand here. “Running away now isn’t an option I even considered, and I thought you ready to fight Shido? Cold feet?” 

“It’s not that.” Goro shook his head.

“Just talk to me.” Akira tapped a finger on the counter. “I can’t tell what you’re thinking. You have to tell me.”

Goro stared back at Akira for a long time before he let out a sigh and spoke,” Can we sit up in your room to do this?” 

“Yeah, let me finish this clean up. You can head up now.” Akira stepped back to put away the dishes he just finished washing while Goro went upstairs. Once everything was cleaned and put away Akira turned the lights off and made his way up to his room. He found Goro sitting on his bed in deep contemplation. “All done.” Akira announced his arrival so as not to startle Goro.

“Good work.” Goro said and to Akira it sounded as if it were just something to say and he hadn’t thought about his words. Akira glanced around his room wondering where to sit before he decided to just cut the bullshit and took a seat next to Goro. “You wanted me to just tell you what’s on my mind, right?” 

“Yeah. I don’t know if you’ve noticed you are nearly impossible to read.” Akira motioned at Goro as a whole, earning a look that clearly told Akira that Goro had taken those words as a compliment.

“All day today a thought kept bothering me and I know it’s baseless but...you were willing to die rather than tell me how you felt.” Goro sat up to meet Akira’s eyes straight on. “I realize that at some point you figured me out, but the fact remains you still hadn’t said anything.”

“To be fair, you were also willing to die rather than tell me how you felt, a little differently but still.” Akira poked Goro on the side. “But part of me figured you’d brush it off as another crazy fan just trying to get in your pants.” Akira shrugged but Goro wasn’t buying it at all.

“Even after we became friends properly?” 

“Listen, it took me a while to build up the guts I needed to ask Iwai about a fake gun he gave me in a paper bag. I’m kind of cowardly.” Akira offered as an answer but when Goro just gave him an unimpressed look he twisted his bangs nervously. “You’re way out of my league. You have to know that right? I was worried that you’d reject me outright and then I’d just die on the spot. Almost did.”

“I wouldn’t have said that at all if you’d been honest with me when I asked if you could get hanahaki.” Goro mumbled while turning to face away from Akira. 

“Because you knew I had it bad for you the whole time right?” Akira prodded Goro who refused to turn back toward him. “Goro, me not saying anything has nothing to do with you thinking you’re not a person who is worthy of being loved.” Akira blurted out, and from the way Goro turned sharply to stare at him, he felt like he was pretty close to what was going on in his head. “Seriously. Just because I didn’t jump on the idea of running away with you doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t. If things weren’t top tier bullshit right now I’d be packing a bag. I can’t run away from this, and I don’t think you actually can either.”

“You’re right.” Goro laughed bitterly. 

“Ask me again once Shido is dealt with.” Akira nudged Goro with his shoulder. “I promise to already have a bag packed and tickets bought.” 

Goro shook his head softly with a small smile on his face before turning to Akira fully. He carefully reached up to cup Akira’s face with one hand to bring him closer for a kiss. The kiss was simple but that made it all the more important. Something about the way Goro’s thumb brushed against his cheek made Akira’s heart melt. The caste kiss lasted for a long time, Akira couldn’t tell how long nor did he care.

When Goro finally pulled back he stayed close to Akira, lips hovering just centimeters apart. They were so close that Akira could feel Goro’s lips bump against his lightly as he spoke. “I love you.”

Those three words hit Akira like a cool breeze on a hot day. While at the same time wrapping around him like a warm blanket in winter. It was different than in the hospital but why? Maybe because Goro had kissed him to go with it? Was that all that Akira had been missing for this feeling of adoration to explode in his chest? Whatever the case this was intimate and personal, and Akira would guard this moment with his life. This was their moment.

“I love you.” Akira returned with all the affection he could before Goro moved back in for another kiss. This one turned much deeper and had more force behind it as he pushed Akira back into the bed.

★★★

Goro took control and Akira honestly couldn’t complain. He helped Goro in the fevered rush to remove clothes as his fingers dragged through Akira’s hair then down to the waist of his pants. There was a pause from Goro as he pulled back just enough to ask if Akira had any lube. So they were going to do this then. Okay. Akira thought about being witty and saying he’d been aiming for this, but decided against it and just pointed to his desk.

Goro gave Akira another kiss before he jumped up to grab it then returned to set it by Akira’s head. He then continued his job of removing Akira’s clothes, then his own. Akira didn’t argue with Goro taking the lead. He was fine on his back. It made it feel more important. He was trusting Goro.

Goro paused suddenly with his lips against Akira’s neck but didn’t say anything about why. After a minute passed Akira had to ask what was wrong to get a reply,” Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Yes,” Akira admitted,” I love you and like you said. We might not get a lot of time together after Shido’s palace… I want to have this with you.” 

“Right...” Goro fell silent for a while before he spoke again,” I’m sorry I ever hurt you.” 

“It’s fine, Goro.” Akira said, reaching a hand to touch the back of his head to hold him closer. “Let’s just enjoy the time we have. Okay?” 

Goro seemed pleased enough with that as he took hold of Akira’s semi-hard erection to give him a firm stroke. Goro worked him fully hard as he kissed Akira once more. It didn’t take long for Akira to be reduced to a moaning mess under Goro’s touch. 

Goro pulled away, earning a whine from Akira, to shuffle down with the lube bottle in hand. Akira watched through hazy eyes and messy bangs as Goro popped the bottle open to slick his fingers. The only part Akira couldn’t understand at this point is why Goro moved down away from him. He could have used his fingers without moving out of kissing range. Akira was about to complain about this fact then Goro’s mouth wrapped around his cock and a finger pushed into him. 

“G-Goro!” Akira yelped at the sensation of Goro’s hot mouth around him and the pressure of the finger inside him. “T-that’s--” It was already too much. He wasn’t going to last and he’d never live down the torment of ‘the first time we had sex you came within two minutes.’ That thought was what drove Akira to reach down and tap Goro’s head in a vain attempt to get him to stop. “St-not bo--th. F-fuck!” 

Goro seemed to pointedly ignore him and actually put in more effort to make Akira feel good. Unable to muster any strength to stop Goro Akira turned to jello under all the attention and lost track of what was going on as he tried to will himself not to cum. It wasn’t not working though, and after a few more futile attempts to get Goro to slow down he came. It was a twitchy and loud climax that has his hips jolting up into Goro’s mouth a few times as the detective sucked everything he could out.

Goro then pulled his face away to smirk at Akira and kept his fingers inside to continue working him open. “Only took that much, hm?” Goro used his free hand to wipe off a bit of cum from the corner of his mouth with his thumb which he then sucked into his mouth to clean off in a way Akira can only describe as shameful.

“S-shut up.” Akira managed to say between labored breaths. There’s no bite behind his words though as much as he wanted to sass his partner. Goro still had Akira bent to his will, this fact made evident to him when Goro crooked his fingers inside Akira to rub against his prostate just right. Wait when did he add more fingers?

“Should I stop here?” Goro questioned and his tone told Akira that if he called for a stop here he’d do as told. 

“I’m fine. I do love a guy who looks for consent.” Akira breathed out with a laugh. Goro took Akira’s words at face value and continued to open him up with a bit more focus. Every time Goro brushed against his sweet spot Akira jumped and let out another long moan. It seemed to be his favorite sound as he continued to press just right to get those sounds out of him.

After what felt like an eternity Goro withdrew his fingers to slick up his cock instead. “I’ll try my best not to hurt you.” Goro promised as the head of his cock pressed against Akira’s hole. Just the feeling of that heat against him was almost enough to make him climax again. Damn Goro was trying to really wear him out. Was he going to last? Unlikely.

“G-go ahead.” Akira nodded and Goro pushed in. He’d done an exceptional job at opening Akira up, he slid in with no problems and he was by no means small. At least that was what went through Akira’s mind. He hadn’t actually gotten a good look at Goro’s size before it was inside him. It felt pretty big at least. Not that he had experience with too many others to know the difference.

Akira was pulled from thoughts of length when Goro began to move. He held onto Akira’s hips and pulled almost all the way out before pushing back in with an agonizingly slow pace. 

“Please-” Akira’s breath hitched as Goro moved again, slow as ever,” f-faster.”

Goro, being a cheeky asshole, somehow found a way to move _even slower_ and Akira started to get the urge to flip them around and ride him until he broke him instead. Goro somehow sensed this and took Akira’s hands to pin them up over his head as he leaned in to kiss him again. The distraction worked because Akira didn’t notice Goro tied his hands together until after he pulled back to rock into him once again. 

“Seriously?” Akira motioned with his bound hands.

“Can’t have you getting ahead of yourself.” Goro smiled and it’s devious and Akira began to worry about what he'd let into his bed. 

Goro started to move again. His movement is a bit sharper now, and his hand finds Akira’s cock to stroke him in time with his thrusts. Goro is rather good at this and is quickly bringing Akira to another climax. Not that it was hard. Akira was still sensitive from the last release and now this? He was no match.

“Cum for me one more time.” Goro requested as he felt Akira trying to hold back. Akira couldn’t hold back at all now and soon he’s cumming again. His seed spilling out over Goro’s hand and his stomach as Akira called his name. “Good.” Goro brought his hand up to his mouth to clean the mess once again and Akira swears he’s going to lose his damn mind. Who gave him the right to look like that?

Goro gave Akira a moment to catch his breath again. He wasn’t pulling out yet and Akira was pretty sure that Goro had yet to come. What kind of monstrous stamina did he have? No scratch that, what kind of stamina did Goro think Akira had? He was going to pass out at this rate!

Once Akira was no longer gasping for air Goro began a punishing pace. His movements were just enough to get Akira worked up again but not enough to send him over the edge just yet. Goro was panting now as he leaned over Akira to mark his neck over and over. Akira couldn’t even think straight as he moved his bound hands to loop around Goro’s neck and pull him in for a kiss. 

Akira hooked his legs around Goro’s waist to encourage him to release inside. It felt like ages before Goro finally did come. He slams in as deep as he can as he presses a bruising kiss to Akira’s lips. As Goro fills him Akira’s dirty mind helps him along to climax a third time for the night. 

Akira is shaking still when Goro pulls out of him. He looks a little worn but the expression of satisfaction on his face is enough to tell Akira that Goro had planned this over stimulation from the start. Sexy bastard.

“H-holy fuck m-my legs feel like they’re made of jelly.” Akira says after he attempted to move one only to find that both of his legs were so fucking weak he could barely move them at all. This was simultaneously the best and worst thing he’d ever experienced. 

“Just stay put then. I’ll be right back.” Goro said, pressing another, softer, kiss to Akira before he moved to head down stairs to the bathroom. He returned a few minutes later with a few wash cloths and a large bowl of warm water and a bottle tucked under his arm. 

Goro then untied Akira’s hands to help him sit up to drink some water from the bottle before laying him back down to clean him up. Once he was satisfied with his work Goro tossed the cloth into the pile of their clothes and climbed into bed with Akira.

Akira had no say in his little spoon status but honestly he didn’t care. This was nice. He liked being held like this. It was comforting.

“This seems a bit late to ask but,” Goro spoke with his face nuzzled into Akira’s hair,” would you like to date?” 

“Mmmm, I would like to call you my boyfriend, yes.” Akira answered lazily. “After sex like that I don’t think I could say no. My dick is thoroughly bewitched.” 

“What?” Goro tried to cover up a laugh.

“Explain later. Sleep now.”

“Good night… Akira.”

“Mmmmm, g’night Goro.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that's it for sex in this fic. there's mentions of them doing it more later but i don't write it. i just get bored writing it. anyway, sex aside i actually drew the outfit i put goro into! it's not great but here. i took some small inspiration from a doujinshi called _"Heart Conduction Rerecording-WALTZ' by Kimigurui/ HinonoHiraki"_. but yeah here's the [outfit that i drew](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/396435850038083587/744093617924341840/goroficoutfit.png) and the [mark on his back](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/396435850038083587/718691973329977404/akechiback.png). i actually won an art raffle for a full body commission and asked for someone to actually draw it full form since legs are the bane of my existence. but the com isn't done yet. i'll link it in a chapter when it's done!
> 
> it's pretty late so i'm going to slap up a preview and call it a night. thanks for reading!!
> 
> preview:  
>  _“Not to sound like my therapist, but it sounds like you’re scared to let people know you have feelings for me.” Akira pat the back of Goro’s head, earning a tighter squeeze in return as a warning. "You know if you ever wanted to talk to a therapist mine would talk to you.”_


	26. thieves just wanna have fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akira and goro start their first day as boyfriends with a noisy alarm. after going to school akira talks to maruki then the thieves plan something fun for the night. they’re still friends after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is chatlog heavy but it’s fun anyway.

Morning came with the announcement of an alarm sounding from someone’s clothes somewhere in the room. The chime was unfamiliar so it had to be Goro’s phone. Thus, Akira did not need to get up to seek it out. So he let out a grumble along the lines of “shoot the clock” as he tried to snuggle up to Goro again while Goro was trying to dislodge himself from his boyfriend. Eventually he got free and set off to silence the source of the annoyance. After a few seconds the sound was off but Goro did not return to bed. Akira cracked an eye open to see what was taking him so long only to be met with the disappointing sight of Goro getting dressed. 

“Play hooky.” Akira spoke half into his blankets.

“If I could, I would, but I told you I have things I have to do today.” Goro said looking around for something. “Have you seen my tie?” 

“No. Was that what you tied my hands with last night? I’m sure it’s… somewhere.” Akira grumbled then sat up. “How long do you have to look?” 

“I should have been gone sooner. It’s a longer trip to my school from here. I should have set my alarm properly.” Goro answered as he pulled on his shoes.

“Well, you were a little preoccupied last night.” Akira teased. “You should just go. I’ll look for it later.” Akira scratched the side of his head and let out a yawn.

“I’ll have to. Sorry to take off right away.” Goro finished getting dressed in what he could find of his clothes then turned to give Akira a kiss. “I’ll text you later.”

“Okay.” Akira felt a bit more awake after the kiss. Moments later Goro was gone and Akira was left alone and awake. He felt pretty good, a little boneless, but good enough to go to school. He looked for his phone before finding it half kicked under his bed next to Goro’s tie. “If he’d looked a little harder.” Akira laughed. He picked both up and with it got a wicked idea.

He put the tie around his neck, pushed his hair half out of his face, then took a picture of himself with the slutiest expession he could manage. Photo taken, Akira took the tie back off and began to pick around his room for clothes so he could leave his room to get in a shower before running to catch his train.

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _7:17am: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira:** found your tie  


_**Akira has shared a photo!** _

**Goro:** brun it  
 **Goro:** bunr it  
 **Goro:** fuck  
 **Goro:** BURN IT.  
 **Akira:** aww, did i fluster you?  
 **Goro** : 🔫  
 **Goro** : what a terrible emote  
 **Akira** : yeah they thought the old gun emote looked too real  
 **Goro** : 🗡️  
 **Akira** : there u go  
 **Goro** : 🗡️🗡️🗡️  
 **Akira** : ilu2. i’ll keep your tie safe until you return  
 **Goro** : 🗡️  
 **Goro: 🤍**  
 **Akira** : 🖤  
 ** _{The chat thread has been closed.}_**

_** STAR WARS EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _7:48am: **prolly not dying anymore** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**prolly not dying anymore:** i’m coming to school today  
 **tiny pizza table:** did you do the thing  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** 🤐  
 **tiny pizza table:** you did!  
 **Pixar Mom:** Did what? Also are you sure? Your doctor said you need rest.  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** i am in perfect health.  
 **tiny pizza table:** i bet.  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** 😐  
 **banana_hammock:** what the hell happened?  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** i’ll tell you at school. futaba can’t see this.  
 **tiny pizza table:** i’m on the internet. i’ve def seen worse.  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** i’m headed out now. see you guys at school. i’ll get mona later.  
 **tiny pizza table** : o(*￣○￣)ゝ  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _8:22am: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira:** when you see me don’t yell  
 **Ann** : ok now i’m worried??????????????  
 **Akira** : there’s nothing to worry about, but it looks a vampire went to town on me  
 **Ann** : omg. was it akechi?  
 **Akira** : i might already regret coming to school after all.  
 **Akira** : it might have been.  
 **Ann** : are your lungs ok?  
 **Akira** : my lungs are fine. it’s my legs that won’t cooperate with me. i’m literally resting on the midway point between the first and second floor because i have jelly legs.  
 **Ann** : jelly legs…?  
 **Ann** : do you need help?  
 **Akira** : i’m a man and i know when to admit that i 100% need help getting up the rest of these stairs.  
 **Ann** : ok let me get mishima to help too.  
 **Akira** : ty ilu  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** SHUJIN BUU ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:34am: **not a model** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**_{_ ** _7:18pm: **Akira Kurusu** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _7:18pm: **Akira Kurusu** has joined the thread **}**_

**not a model has changed Akira’s name to jelly legs.**

**jelly legs:** i see i’ve been invited to the secret chat.  
 **not a model:** it was the chat we set up to avoid you at school when we needed to talk about akechi.  
 **jelly legs** : secret chat.  
 **not a model:** shush. anyway. holy crap akira you weren’t joking!  
 **jelly legs** : i have never lied ever in my life.  
 **not a model** : i know this and i love you.  
 **Veggie power:** What happened?  
 **jelly legs:** i might look like dracula and i had a fight.  
 **not a model:** more like a blender! what happened?  
 **jelly legs:** without going into detail, there’s a very specific reason why my neck looks like this and why i couldn’t make it up the stairs this morning.  
 **not a model:** no... you didn’t.  
 **jelly legs:** i sure did.  
 **BACK TO CLASS:** Did...what?  
 **County roads** : please don’t make me say it  
 **Up at 5am playing games:** bro...  
 **jelly legs:** i know.  
 **Veggie power:** Oh my.  
 **BACK TO CLASS:** Oh.  
 **jelly legs:** yeah.  
 **Up at 5am playing games:** .  
 **jelly legs:** ..  
 **BACK TO CLASS:** ...  
 **Veggie power:** ….  
 **not a model:** …..  
 **jelly legs:** so yeah the act alone was not the worst thing i’ve done in the last 24hrs either. i’m sorry you guys elected me as your leader.  


Up at 5am playing games: WHAT TO YOU MEAN THAT WASN’T THE WORST THING?  
**not a model:** what did you do?!  
**jelly legs:** let me crop this...   


**_jelly legs has shared a photo!_ **

**not a model:** adlgkhasdgasd  
 **Up at 5am playing games:** BWOR WHT TH FUDF  
 **jelly legs:** yeah. i sent that to him this morning.  
 **Veggie Power:** 😳  
 **jelly legs** : HARU I’M SORRY.  
 **BACK TO CLASS:** IS THAT AKECHI’S TIE?  
 **jelly legs:** yes.  


**not a model changed Akira’s name to Future nude model.**

**not a model:** i changed my mind on your name.  
 **Future nude model:** i take this as a compliment  
 **Future nude model** : was it my rock hard abs?  
 **not a model:** it was the slut face. you look like a pro.  
 **Future nude model** : valid.  
 **Up at 5am playing games:** you said you cropped this?  
 **Future nude model:** pls don’t shame me more.  
 **Up at 5am playing games:** how far down does it go exactly?  
 **Future nude model** : i can’t show u that nor let you know. get your fap material from the internet like everyone else.  
 **Up at 5am playing games:** I DONT WANT TO FAP TO YOU!  
 **Up at 5am playing games:** oh my fucking god  
 **Future nude model** : i’m offended.  
 **Future nude model:** anyway the thing here is that it happened, and i can officially call goro my boyfriend.  
 **not a model:** ASFASJKLHSDG AASDFAG AKIRA. DON’T WE STILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE WHOLE MAKING SURE HE REALLY DOESN’T KILL YOU THING?  
 **Future nude model:** it’s fine.  
 **BACK TO CLASS:** I’m…  
 **BACK TO CLASS** : ok.  
 **BACK TO CLASS** : Right.  
 **BACK TO CLASS** : Back to class.  
 **Veggie Power:** Congrats Akira!  
 **Future nude model:** thank you haru! you are the light in my life.  
 **Future nude model** : that said i don’t know which part i’m being congratulated for and it’s stressing me out.  
 **Veggie Power** : All of it!  
 **Veggie Power:** :D  
 **Future nude model** : i’m picturing that meme where i’m handed a cake that says ‘congrats on the sex’ now and i’m screaming.  
 **not a model** : i don’t hear anything.  
 **Future nude model** : i’m screaming on the inside.  
 **Veggie Power** : Oh! I can get a cake like that!  
 **Future nude model** : … hm.  
 **BACK TO CLASS** : Do not.  
 **Future nude model** : ignore makoto.  
 **Future nude model** : i want cake.  
 **Future nude model** : even if it commemorates my sex with goro.  
 **Veggie Power** : Okay! Chocolate okay?  
 **Future nude model** : hell yes.  
 **BACK TO CLASS** : Oh my God… Haru don’t encourage him…  
 **Veggie Power** : I want to celebrate something though! I’ll take what I can get Mako-chan.  
 **Veggie Power** : If not this cake then I’ll have to think of something else. ):  
 **BACK TO CLASS** : Ngh.  
 **Up at 5am playing games** : im hungry  
 **Future nude model** : me too.  
 **Future nude model** : for cake.  
 **Future nude model:** :D  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** TAKUTO MARUKI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:55am: **Maruki** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Maruki** : I noticed you weren’t at school for a few days. Are you feeling alright?  
 **Akira** : feeling pretty good.  
 **Maruki** : Do you have time during lunch to talk?  
 **Akira** : sure. i’ll head over once the bell rings.  
 **Maruki** : Good! I’ll see you then!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

When lunch came Akira gracefully dodged Ryuji in the hall by sending Yuuki to distract him. Akira made his way across the school to meet Maruki standing outside of the nurse’s office. Once Akira greeted him Maruki raised an eyebrow at him before leading the teen inside,” what happened to you? Your voice sounds… strained.” 

“I’m living my youth to its fullest.” Akira answered, taking a seat.

“I see,” Maruki offered Akira some tea and sandwiches,” I was worried about you when you didn’t come to school.”

“Yeah, uh, the reason I was out for a few days was because my hanahaki came out with a fury like none other.” Akira picked up the tea and started to drink it as a way to distract himself.

“That’s great news! I’m glad to hear that! I was worried you really were going to not even try. How’d it go?” Maruki gave him a look that asked the additional question of ‘did you confess ’ which Akira felt awkward answering. “Well, uh, I’d guess it went well if you’re sitting here but I think you know what I meant.”

“I--uh-- This is gonna sound weird but,” Akira dragged a hand through his hair,” after having a very physical fight with the object of my affections, it was a weird ‘lets see if you’re still strong enough’ thing. Please don’t psychoanalyze that part. Anyway, after I win this fight he’s like ‘I hate you’ and of course that sets off a massive attack. Actually it it was a one-hundred percent a death bloom. I would have been dead in Shibuya. Anyway, he panics, realizes what’s going on, takes back his words, says he loves me, and then proceeds to have to pull out my roots by hand because they got stuck and I passed out.”

“So you were simultaneously told you were hated and loved by the person at the core of your hanahaki.” Maruki hummed,” I’m sure that the near death experience left you uneasy.”

“I kinda accepted I was just going to die for a while. But then I started to think about being dead and what I have left unfinished and I started to panic about it. Even so I went to Shibuya to face him and either die at his feet or get the truth out of him. Fully expected to not talk away alive actually.” Akira shrugged. “Upsetting I know.” 

“I think the important thing to take away here is that you were accepted. I’m curious why he told you he hated you at first, but the fact he realized his mistake and took it back bodes well.” Maruki looked thoughtful. “Not many people these days would do that. They rather blame the victims then carry on with their lives.”

“Not many people these days end up with hanahaki that people have to worry about.” Akira said bitterly. “It’s not the first time I’ve had it.” Akira admitted telling Maruki about the first time he’d had it and how his parents decided to deal with it. He told Maruki how he hadn’t even been upset after the fact.

“Well, it’s possible you weren’t upset simply because you couldn’t remember anything about that time. We can feel differently about a person or a situation if we’re looking at it from a stranger’s perspective. So while you weren’t upset after the fact, you might have been as resistant to it then as you were now, albeit with a little more say on how to deal with it in the present.” Maruki offered. “Do you love him?”

“I do. As much as everyone around me says he’s bad for me.” Akira nodded. 

“Bad for you?” 

“Let’s just say we’re on opposing sides of a shitty game where he’s supposed to ‘kill’ me,” Akira tells as close to the truth as he dares too.

“Is it really a game or…?” 

“It’s complicated.” Akira reached up to adjust his glasses. “The point is that I trust him with my life but others are still pretty worried.” 

“I see.” 

“They’re valid in how they feel, but I want to trust him anyway. It’s just hard to know if it’s because I love him or something else. I think he deserves a shot either way.” Akira explained.

“Without knowing the whole picture with him I can’t say anything with any certainty but I think if you are the one willing to give him a shot then your friends will follow along. If you’re in a much more difficult situation than that of your friends and you want to trust him. I think that should be enough.” Maruki tried to articulate his words in a way Akira could understand. “It may be hard for them to accept and maybe caution is needed but at the end of the day it’s up to what you want to do.”

“Yeah.” Akira agreed. “It might be weird, but maybe I should sneak him in to talk with you one of these days. I think it would help him.”

“I could meet with him outside of the school too.” Maruki offered. “You helped me a great deal with my paper, and giving your significant other a session seems the least I can do for you.” 

“Thanks Maruki.” Akira felt pretty good about things now. Sure he only told Maruki bits and pieces, but it was better this way. If things went sideways it’s better to give Maruki as much deniability as possible.

“Great, now, you should eat some before the bell rings, I also have some of these Phantom Wafers.” Maruki pulls out another bowl of snacks.

“Yes thank you. The snacks are why I actually come, not the free therapy. Next time I’ll unpack about my family and aim for a cake at the end.” Akira takes a few wafers to save for later. 

“Your family... did something else happen?” Maruki sits back.

“Don’t really have time to talk about that one, but a sneak preview is that it’s about past stuff not anything new.” Akira offered a thumbs up just as the bell rang. “Time to go. Thanks for the sandwich and the cookies.” 

“If you want we could talk after school too.” Maruki offered.

“I’m expecting to be dragged off by my friends this afternoon but I’ll talk to you tomorrow about it. Promise.” Akira waves then left the room to head back to class.

_** RYUJI SAKAMOTO ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _2:39pm:_ **Ryuji** _has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ryuji:** bro where were u at lunch?  
 **Akira** : getting a quickie in therapy  
 **Ryuji:** i seriously cant tell if youre bangin your therapist or not  
 **Akira** : i’m not. not that i wouldn’t have said no before.  
 **Ryuji** : i mean  
 **Ryuji** : he has a pulse  
 **Akira** : that he does. and he’s hot. i might have a thing for older guys  
 **Ryuji** : youre not going to start about the gun shop guy again are you?  
 **Akira** : no. iwai is a Hot Dad but i am in a faithful relationship.  
 **Ryuji** : bro is akechi gunna flip out if you flirt with other people?  
 **Akira** : i’m going to take a hard guess that he might.  
 **Akira** : for reasons i’m not going to disclose because it’s personal.  
 **Akira** : this does mean there is going to be less of me going around until we talk about that.  
 **Akira** : so for now, no more innuendos.  
 **Ryuji** : this is ruining our friendship!  
 **Akira** : i know.  
 **Ryuji** : anyway the rest of us decided to meet at the school roof after school you better be there  
 **Akira** : you have to carry me.  
 **Ryuji** : haha  
 **Akira** : i’m not kidding. my legs are still weak.  
 **Akira** : three times bro.  
 **Ryuji** : ???  
 **Akira** : i’ve never been fucked so hard.  
 **Ryuji** : BRO  
 **Akira** : i had to say it.  
 **Ryuji** : so  
 **Ryuji** : you guys went three times?  
 **Akira** : god no. i think i’d be dead.  
 **Akira** : judging from how one time went.  
 **Akira** : i mean he made me cum three times before he did once.  
 **Akira** : this is ultra tmi but that was the best head i’ve had in my life.  
 **Ryuji** : compared to the one other guy youve boned  
 **Akira** : he’s also huge.  
 **Ryuji** : i regret talking to you back in april  
 **Akira** : you love me.  
 **Ryuji** : i do but i still regret it  
 **Ryuji** : im learnin things about akechi i dont wanna know  
 **Ryuji** : i also never got to ask who topped between you and yusuke  
 **Akira** : a bottom never kisses and tells.  
 **Ryuji** : stingy bitch  
 **Ryuji** : …  
 **Ryuji** : wait  
 **Akira** : :3c  
 **Ryuji** : shit usami is looking at me bye  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _4:39pm:_ **nekomimi mascot __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**nekomimi mascot:** aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwr  
 **glasses kink** : he means we’re stealing sae’s treasure soon.  
 **sensual strawberries** : are we actually stealing it anymore?  
 **nekomimi mascot** : wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww  
 **glasses kink** : translation: we have to carry on like everything is the same.  
 **Sensual Lobsters** : Yes that was the plan we decided on the other day. The important question is if Akira is ready.  
 **BigBootyCarrots** : He didn’t look too great today. ):  
 **glasses kink** : no i’m fine. i only looked like i got in a fight with a blender. just give me a day to get bones back in my legs.  
 **PrinceType** : What’s wrong with your legs?  
 **glasses kink** : you know what you did.  
 **PrinceType** : …?  
 **sensual keystroke** : 👀  
 **glasses kink:** we need to make an adult chat  
 **The Hot Class Prez** : That would just be me and Akechi-kun.  
 **glasses kink** : we need to make a 16+ chat.  
 **twink bara** : when the hell is your birthday bro?  
 **glasses kink** : it’s a secret.  
 **sensual keystroke** : i can look it up.  
 **glasses kink** : no don’t.  
 **sensual keystroke** : AKIRA. WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING?  
 **PrinceType** : Did it already pass?  
 **glasses kink** : we were busy.  
 **glasses kink** : it’s not important.  
 **sensual keystroke** : it was the 31st.  
 **PrinceType** : Akira…  
 **sensual keystroke** : we need to do something.  
 **nekomimi mascot** : mmmmmmmm  
 **twink bara** : translation?  
 **glasses kink** : hhhhhhhh  
 **glasses kink** : no.  
 **PrinceType** : The route to the treasure is secure, and we’re waiting until the last minute so it’s fine to celebrate.  
 **BigBootyCarrot** : I HAVE A REASON FOR CAKE THAT ISN’T CONGRADULATIONS FOR SEX!  
 **PrinceType** : …  
 **glasses kink** : i think i hear sojiro calling…  
 **PrinceType** : ...I’m going to smother you in your sleep. 🙂  
 **glasses kink** : help.  
 **glasses kink** : haru i love you but it’s really fine guys. no cakes or celebration needed.  
 **twink bara** : no its not! bro. we need to celebrate!  
 **The Hot Class Prez:** Ryuji is right. You’re important to us. Let’s celebrate your birthday!  
 **sensual strawberries** : let’s do a big joint celebration!  
 **Sensual Lobsters** : Ah yes. Yours is in two days isn’t it?  
 **glasses kink** : shit.  
 **sensual strawberries** : you forgot? 😢  
 **glasses kink** : no. but i can’t duck the party if it’s going to be yours too.  


_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _4:50pm:_ **Goro __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Goro** : Do you really not want to celebrate your birthday?  
 **Akira** : because it’s you i’ll tell you that i don’t want to because it just reminds me my family disowned me.  
 **Goro** : I see. Should I offer an out for you in terms of the party?  
 **Akira** : no. i can’t ditch ann like that. thank you though. Ilu  
 **Akira** : i’m sorry i told everyone about the sex.  
 **Akira** : i apparently have a habit of talking about that without thinking of my partners i just realized...  


_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**BigBootyCarrot** : If you really don’t want to celebrate your birthday we could just do it as a celebration for the  
 **BigBootyCarrot:** Wait, that doesn’t work. Are we still ‘disbanding’ after this?  
 **PrinceType** : Since all the cards are on the table I don’t think so. There’s still Shido to contend with after we fake Akira’s death.  
 **sensual keystroke** : guys i want to pose that we keep normal teen stuff to this group and just add akechi to the ‘secret’ one.  
 **sensual strawberries** : are we sure?  
 **PrinceType** : I understand if you don’t want me to know everything still.  
 **glasses kink** : leader call i’m doing it.  


_** STAR WARS EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _5:01pm: **prolly not dying anymore** has started a new chat thread **}**_

_**{** 5:01pm: **Goro Akechi** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _5:01pm: **Goro Akechi** has joined the thread **}**_

**Goro:** Do any of you use normal names anywhere?  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : no. join us.  
 **Goro** : Hm.  


**Goro changed Goro’s name to prolly won’t stab you.**

**prolly not dying anymore:** perfect.  
 **tiny pizza table** : oh my god it’s a couple’s scheme. i’m gunna throw up.  
 **banana_hammock** : so the other chat is just a meme chat now?  
 **Pixar Mom:** To be fair, it was always just a meme chat.  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad** : Yes. Just with a dash more of us pretending we didn’t know Akechi was planning to kill our leader.  
 **prolly won’t stab you** : I expected that there was another chat somewhere.  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : i have like fifty of them. My phone is constantly blowing up. help.  
 **prolly won’t stab you** : Help how?  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : how do i become less popular?  
 **prolly won’t stab you** : I’m sure that problem will fix itself once people think you’re dead.  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : fantastic.  


_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**glasses kink:** can i just say that this entire string of chats is my birthday party and we just celebrate ann’s solo?  
 **sensual strawberries:** no.  
 **nekomimi mascot:** wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwqqqqq  
 **glasses kink** : he wants to celebrate ann’s birthday solo.  
 **nekomimi mascot:** iuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu  
 **PrinceType** : He wants to celebrate both. Stop lying.  
 **PrinceType:** Remind me again why you gave Morgana a tablet?  
 **glasses kink** : it makes him feel special.  
 **nekomimi mascot** : ttttttttttttttttttttttty  
 **twink bara** : you’re welcome.  


_** GORO AKECHI ** _

******Akira** : by the way  
**Akira** : i don’t know how to say it delicately so i’m going to just say it  
**Akira** : if me whining about my family bugs you let me know and i’ll stop.  
**Goro** : It’s perfectly fine.  
**Goro** : My lack of one doesn’t mean you can’t talk about yours.  
**Akira** : i figured. i just wanted to make sure it wasn’t bugging you.  
**Goro** : You’re very thoughtful. Sometimes.  
**Akira** : next up. how do you feel about my usual shameless flirting with anyone that breathes?  
**Goro** : I’d like to think I know when you’re being serious or not.  
**Akira** : yeah but i can stop.   
**Akira** : i don’t want to make you stress out because you think i don’t actually love you or something when i joke about making out with ryuji or compliment yusuke’s ass.  
**Goro** : Hmmm. You can flirt with Sakamoto.  
**Akira** : just ryuji?  
**Goro** : …  
**Akira** : um.  
**Goro** : You can do what you want.  
**Akira** : hMmMMmmmmmmMMMMMMMmmMMmMM?  
**Goro** : Fine…. I… might have overhead you and Kitagawa talking about you having had sex.  
**Akira** : Ah…. I was going to tell you. I was kinda looking for a good time.  
**Goro** : You don’t need to tell me about everyone you’ve had sex with, but I’ll admit I might get jealous of flirting involving him...  
**Akira** : understandable. also it’d be a short list if i did tell you about everyone i had sex wish. in fact oh look i already told you everyone. i could tell you my old bucket list.  
**Goro** : I’m fine without that.  
**Akira** : are you sure?  
**Goro** : I don’t need to know who you have lewd thoughts about.  
**Akira** : you’re ok with me thinking stuff about other people?  
**Goro** : I’m not going to police your thoughts. I do draw the line at someone else’s name during sex.  
**Akira** : oh no worries. you’re literally the only one on my mind during that.  
**Akira** : and have been for ages. even when i’m looking at other men. i’m like ‘he’s hot but not like goro.’  
**Goro** : Why do I love you?  
**Akira** : i’m charming and smart  
**Goro** : Questionable.  


_** STAR WARS EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**my gf is hotter than urs:** ok so, we’ll do a joint birthday party on the 13th. Take a few days to prep then go for the treasure, right?  
 **prolly won’t stab you:** I think that’s the best use of the time we have.  
 **Pixar Mom:** I’ll give the calling card to my sister on the 18th.  
 **T & Tea:** Then we have to hope for the best after that.  
 **T & Tea:** I think I would like to make an executive decision to make Ann-chan and Akira-kun’s birthday party really over the top. It’d be a little short notice but I’m going to get us Destiny Land for the night.  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** haruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
 **T & Tea:** I know it’s a bit much! However, I really want to make it special for you! Without you none of us would be where we are now.  
 **My gf is hotter than urs:** i would have been kamoshida’s play thing.  
 **banana_hammock:** i dont even know what i woulda done if id have gotten expelled might have ended up in some shady work for kaneshiro cuz no other school would take me  
 **T & Tea:** I would have been forced to live with my ex-fiance to play the role of a silent wife.  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad** : Madarame would still be using me to perpetuate his art career.  
 **Pixar Mom** : I’d still just mindlessly be working for the principal walking the path my sister laid out for me.  
 **prolly won’t stab you** : I’d probably have killed more people...  
 **tiny pizza table** : i think i’d just be dead.  
 **T & Tea:** D:  
 **tiny pizza table:** i know it’s kinda a serious thing to say but i was getting pretty close there.  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** guys. i’m actually sobbing right now. stop. i need a hug.  
 **banana_hammock** : omw  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** ty  


_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**Goro:** Do you want me to stop by?  
 **Akira** : you mean you weren’t coming back?  
 **Goro** : I am. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to be overwhelmed.  
 **Akira** : pls come over and hug me  
 **Goro** : I’ll be there in an hour.  
 **Akira** : i’ll make you some coffee.  


_** STAR WARS EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**prolly not dying anymore:** ryuji on a scale of yes to no are you serious about coming over?  
 **banana_hammock:** im leanin on a hard yes why?  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** two hugs are better than one?  
 **prolly won’t stab you:** I’m going over there in about an hour.  
 **banana_hammock:** should i stay away???  
 **prolly won’t stab you:** I don’t see why.  
 **banana_hammock:** alright bro ill see you guys when i get there  
 **tiny pizza table:** i’m hungry. maybe i should head over too.  
 **my gf is hotter than urs:** SLUMBER PARTY.  
 **T & Tea:** Yes! I’ll bring board games!  
 **Pixar Mom** : We have school tomorrow.  
 **tiny pizza table:** no i don’t.  
 **Pixar Mom:** You know I didn’t mean you.  
 **tiny pizza table** : wow. I see how it is.  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad:** I’m going to be heading over as well.  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** i’ll tell sojiro we’re taking over the attic.  
 **tiny pizza table** : oh i’ll get him to let us bring all the extra futons over! turn the whole room into a bed.  
 **T & Tea:** I can bring lots of blankets and pillows!  
 **banana_hammock** : ill bring scary movies!  
 **my gf is hotter than urs** : i’m 100% bringing my nail and make-up kits.  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : we’re doing makeovers?  
 **my gf is hotter than urs** : hell yes we are.  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** i want red nails with black stars.  
 **my gf is hotter than urs:** i can do that!  


_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**Akira** : are you still going to come over?  
 **Goro** : ?  
 **Akira** : in the nerds chat.  
 **Goro** : Oh. Yes, I plan to still come over.  
 **Goro** : It’ll be a good team building experience.  
 **Akira** : i heard that in a very questioning and unsure tone.  
 **Goro** : You’d be correct.  
 **Akira** : You don’t have to push yourself.  
 **Goro** : I’m not.  
 **Akira** : I can call this off.  
 **Goro** : Don’t. With the stress of the heist coming up I think some fun is much needed.  
 **Akira** : Yeah.  
 **Goro** : Besides, everyone is feeling sentimental. You can see it in the chat. I think they need this as much as you do.  
 **Akira** : I know, but if you just want just me and you I can call it off.  
 **Goro** : I appreciate the thought but I’ll be fine. I should learn to get along with your friends.  
 **Akira** : They’re your friends too you know? You’ve just got to let them be.  
 **Goro** : I don’t think I want to have Sakamoto call me ‘bro’ in this or any lifetime.  
 **Akira** : bro…  
 **Goro** : Remind me the plan you had to avoid death?  
 **Akira** : Why…?  
 **Goro** : So I can make sure to actually shoot you in the head if you call me bro one more time.  
 **Akira** : babe :(  
 **Goro** : No.  
 **Akira** : honey?  
 **Goro** : Are you just going to try out pet names until I give you an okay for one?  
 **Akira** : sweet cheeks?  
 **Goro** : I wish you were still choking on flowers.  
 **Akira** : harsh.  
 **Akira** : how about something innocuous like sweetheart?  
 **Goro** : Drop it.  
 **Akira** : fine. only because i think i’m actually making you mad.  
 **Goro** : I’ll see you in an hour.  
 **Akira** : safe travels.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ STAR WARS EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS _ **

**prolly not dying anymore:** so do i make a few gallons of curry or run to the convenience store and buy out their entire snack aisle?  
 **tiny pizza table** : do both.  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : you have to help me carry the snacks back to leblanc  
 **tiny pizza table** : i can do that. i’ll wait in front of the store.  
 **T & Tea:** Do we need to form a pool for snack money?  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** no it’s cool. this is a qualifying expense in the name of our joint bank account.  
 **banana_hammock:** how much is in there anyway?  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** a lot. like... 7mil last i looked.  
 **banana_hammock:** FOR REAL?!  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** yeah. joke’s on kaneshiro, we had the money by the end of the palace.  
 **Pixar Mom:** If we hadn’t made the deadline were you going to pay him off?  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** yeah. i feel like he would have sold us out anyway tho.  
 **Pixar Mom:** Most likely.  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : This brings me to a very important discussion I would like to have with everyone.  
 **tiny pizza table:** uh-oh. he’s gunna ask about getting ten minutes alone with akechi.  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** no. that takes longer than ten minutes.  
 **my gf is hotter than urs** : asdkl;asdklhgasd  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : That aside, I wanted to ask about setting up an account for Yusuke.  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad** : Excuse me?  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** Yusuke, my friend, my confidant, my second favorite ass to stare at on the team, you are so fucking broke it makes me cry. The starving artist is an aesthetic, but you do not have to be one. As I just said, we have a Phantom Fund of just over 7mil. LET ME FEED YOU.  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad** : Ah.  
 **Pixar Mom** : Akira does have a point. I agree.  
 **my gf is hotter than urs** : i’m in favor of this.  
 **tiny pizza table** : me too.  
 **banana_hammock** : fourthed  
 **T & Tea:** Fifthed!  
 **prolly won’t stab you:** I assume you’ll want my vote, to which I cast in favor of this account as well.  
 **Feed me fatty tuna:** wwwwwww  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad** : It would be dreadfully rude of me at this stage to object when you are all in favor of this. I will accept. Thank you.  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** thank god. i’ll work with futaba to get something set up ok?  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad** : Thank you again. All of you.  
 **T & Tea**: We love you Yusuke!  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad** : And I love all of you. Forgive me if I look a bit disheveled when I arrive. This has stirred quite a bit of emotion in me. I don’t even think I could properly capture this on a canvas. It’s too beautiful to be materialized.  
 **banana_hammock:** bro thats so sappy its gunna make me cry  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad** : I’m already crying.  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : GROUP HUG.  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad** : omw  
 **Pixar Mom** : I think tonight is a very good night to all spend together.  
 **tiny pizza table** : and you were worried about school.  
 **my gf is hotter than urs** : seriously. hugs all around.  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** alright. i’m going to head out to meet with futaba to bring the reckoning to this convenience store. see you guys soon.  
 **tiny pizza table:** hell yeah! mission start!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

******BigBootyCarrot:** I’ll close this one up too. See everyone soon!  
**glasses kink:** LOVE YOU HARU.  
**sensual keystroke:** haru is the best! <3  
**twink bara:** everyone loves haru.  
**Sensual Lobsters** : I also love you Haru.  
**The Hot Class Prez:** Haru is very cute and deserves all the love.  
**sensual strawberries:** this is the loving haru club  
**PrinceType** : I suppose I’ll be an honorary member of this club.  
**Nekomimi mascot** : mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm  
**BigBootyCarrot** : Thank you everyone!   


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Haru was the second to arrive with a few boxes of blankets after Akira and Futaba had gotten snacks. Akira helped her move them into the cafe just in time for Ryuji and Yusuke to arrive. Yusuke was very quickly pulled into a very tight hug from all of them. 

The five of them then left the cafe to get the futons from the Sakura house to literally turn the attic floor into a large bed for them all. When they returned with the futons Makoto, Ann, and Goro were all there. They split the roles for setting up the beds and for preparing snacks.

In a quiet moment Goro dragged Akira outside out of sight of the rest to give his boyfriend a tight hug and a kiss on the forehead. It left Akira feeling a bit floaty and a bit like this was a huge secret,” You know they know about us right?”

“I do.” Goro kept his hold on Akira.

“We don’t have to hide.” Akira tried to get a look at Goro’s face but the detective wouldn’t let him. 

“It’s not their business.” Goro shook his head. 

“Not to sound like my therapist but it sounds like you’re scared to let people know you have feelings for me.” Akira pat the back of Goro’s head, earning a tighter squeeze in return as a warning. “You know if you ever wanted to talk to a therapist mine would talk to you.” 

“Did you talk about me to your therapist?” Goro pulled away to glare at Akira.

“I kept your name out of it. And listen, you’re kind of important to me so you’re going to come up. He’s good though. After some of the shit we’ve been through, having someone help unpack the emotional baggage is good.” Akira tried to defend Maruki. “And I think he might know I’m a Phantom Thief…”

“Tell me, how many of the people you know are aware of your role as a Phantom Thief?” Goro questioned and his tone is not only low but it sounds very dangerous. It carried a sort of condescending feeling that made Akira feel like he should probably be upset with it or very ashamed.

“Uh. Well, my doctor, Iwai at the gun store, the Phan-Site admin, can we just say a few and call it a night?” Akira cleared his throat as someone walked by giving them an odd look.

“Would it be safe for me to assume anyone in your phone knows?” Goro pulled away.

“That would be a safe thing to assume.” Akira nodded. “I can send you a list if you actually want to know.”

“No.” Goro adjusted his gloves, the action Akira associated with the closest thing Goro would allow to a nervous tick. “It doesn’t matter. I trust you to know what you’re doing.” 

“I haven’t been turned in so far and one of them is a politician.” Akira tried to lighten the mood with a joke but when Goro didn’t take it as such he let out a sigh. “I promise I know what I’m doing. We’re literally about to try convincing Sae Niijima to release me and it all rests on me telling the story in the right way.” 

Goro stared at Akira for a minute before the voices in the cafe finally questioned where the two of them were at. He seemed like he was in deep thought when the door opened and Yusuke popped his head out to look around. Akira was about to draw attention to them when Goro grabbed the front of his shirt to pull him in for a kiss. It surprised Akira causing his foot to shift back to knock the trash can a few inches to the left and drew Yusuke’s full attention to the two of them. 

Yusuke sayed nothing as he headed back inside, the door nearly slamming as he tried to pretend he didn’t see anything. A few seconds later Goro pulled back with a smirk,” Who’s scared?” Goro then let Akira go to head inside like nothing happened.

“That was just you being a jealous boyfriend.” Akira muttered as he followed Goro.

The night passed by faster than Akira cared for. It was fun and is honestly the best thing he could ever ask for. They watched movies, did makeovers, talked about dumb shit, and played board games. The board games were his favorite thing of the evening. It was Monopoly, Goro was winning, then from left field Ryuji took both blue spaces and ruined Goro’s night.

Well, not his whole night. At some point Akira convinced Goro to let Ann do his nails so the two of them could get matching nails in inverted colors. Akira got his red and black stars while Goro decided to go with white instead of black. 

“Akechi-kun your hands are so soft!” Ann sounded stunned as she painted on the top coat. “I would have thought they’d be a little rougher being in those gloves all the time. It’s almost a shame they are.”

“Why do you wear gloves all the time?” Ryuji questioned while Haru painted his nails yellow.

“All the best detectives do. It lowers the chance of contaminating a crime scene with your own fingerprints.” Goro explained. “Nothing worse in an investigation than ruining fingerprint evidence with your own.”

“That makes sense actually. I didn’t think about that!” Ann nodded turning to Akira as she started to sort out some makeup she wanted him to try on. She checked her own in the mirror before applying a deep red color to her lips. 

“Well, the best thieves all wear gloves as well.” Goro noted. His words were met with a lot of confused looks before he let out a sigh. “Literally all of us wear gloves with our Metaverse outfits.” 

“Awww!” Ann reached a hand out to cup Goro’s face and plant a red kiss mark on his cheek. Goro stiffened at the action just looking confused as to what had just happened to him. “You’re sweet!” Akira felt like Ann just wanted an excuse to put a kiss mark on someone’s face. Goro’s point wasn’t that groundbreaking.

Akira stared at Goro before getting an idea to put another mark on his boyfriend. He quickly took Ann’s mirror and lipstick to apply his own coat. Goro was just kind of snapping out of his stupor when Akira reached him to place a new kiss on the other side of his face but put it closer to his mouth. “Red looks good on you.” Akira teased.

“Funny.” Goro looked only a little annoyed before turning his head to give Akira a proper kiss. Akira forgot for a second that he was in a room with everyone else as Goro deepened their kiss. After a few seconds Akira was suddenly reminded there were at least a half dozen teens watching him when someone cleared their throat. 

“Get a room!” Ryuji shouted before Goro released Akira and Akira’s entire face flushed. 

“I would but you’re all in it!” Akira tried to defend himself but it only earned a round of laughs from everyone around him. “Shut up!” 

“There’s no honor among thieves here. I’m being attacked.” Akira buried his face in his hands. 

“You’re so dramatic.” Ann chuckled reaching forward to shoo his hands away,” Let me clean you up now. Akechi-kun did you just do that to make a mess?” 

“I don’t know what you mean.” Goro answered with a smug smile. He met Akira’s eyes as he wiped the lipstick Ann had put on his cheek off before trying to clean up the smudge of red around his lips. He seemed to intentionally leave Akira’s kiss mark for a few hours before a rogue pillow hit him in the face and smudged the mark.

It was nearing midnight when Ann demanded one more game before they fully rolled out the futons and blankets. She busied herself with something near the TV before stepping back to reveal her phone resting on a speaker,” Freeform karaoke!” 

“Ann no.” Akira begged already thinking about how dumb this would get.

“Ann yes!” Futaba jumped up. “I’ll go first! What do we have here?” Futaba hummed poking through the songs before she settled on one and began to sing dramatically. Akira leaned against Goro to watch as friend after friend picked a song to sing. 

Before Akira realized it the only ones left to sing were him and Goro,” Uhhhhh.” Akira started to lean back away from Futaba as she inched closer. He didn’t want to sing.

“Together.” Goro took his hand. “Come on.” Akira didn’t know what was more surprising, Goro willing to sing, or Goro willing to sing with him.

“Fffffine.” Akira sighed as he got up to pick a song. Goro schooled through a few to ask if Akira knew certain ones which he did not. Surprisingly for Akira it wasn’t because the songs were older, it was because they were newer. They did eventually find one to sing kind of relying on taps on the arm to let the other know they were going to sing a part or just a feeling when they would sing a line together. 

At the end Akira couldn’t stop himself from laughing and to his surprise Goro couldn’t himself either. It was a nice sound and was one of the sounds he was happy to let the others hear as well. They’d been a team for so long but they didn’t really feel as connected as they did now. 

Akira glanced around the room as everyone shared a giggle. They had all been hurt at some point by Goro in some way or another, but here they all were laughing together. Akira was glad to have them as his friends. They didn’t have to forgive Goro, but they let him close because he was someone Akira loved and he loved them all for it.

When it came time to sleep the team spread out on the floor. Ann and Makoto took either side of Haru, claiming they didn’t trust any of the boys. Futaba took the couch to avoid anyone getting too close to her. She had come leaps and bounds in terms of her phobia of people but it was still a work in progress. Yusuke set up next to Akira, at least until Goro lodged himself between them to wrap around Akira. Ryuji took the side Akira had open, while Mona took Akira’s bed, claiming it was his right since he had to share it every other night.

Akira lost track of time as they joked around. Goro didn’t participate in much of the conversation. He instead just kept himself close to Akira staring at a middle distance between them. He seemed to be in deep thought again. Akira didn’t try to drag him into conversation, instead just turning so he was resting on his stomach to speak with Ann who was just across from him.

Slowly people finally began to fall asleep, punctuated by Ryuji snoring lightly, but Goro was still awake. Akira could tell by the way his thumb continued to rub against his hip and the way his breathing hadn’t changed.

Akira twisted around and opened his eyes up once more to look at Goro finding that the detective was staring at him. “Have fun tonight?” Akira asked quietly. It was impossible to have a private conversation here but that didn’t matter.

“Actually, yes.” Goro nodded. “Thank you.” 

“For what? You decided to come over before all this was a thing.”

“For loving me still despite everything.” Goro explained. “I think at this point I’d be fine tuning how to get you to kill me while regretting I had to.”

“You really wouldn’t have just told me?” Akira questioned with a sad expression taking over his face.

“Like you’d tell me of your hanahaki?” Goro had him there. “I don’t know if I can rightly say I wouldn’t have, but it would have felt like betraying myself after working so damn hard. It shouldn’t have cost other’s their lives, and I’m prepared to pay the price for my actions when that time comes. But for now I’ll enjoy this.” Goro moved a hand to touch Akira’s face. “I’m going to be selfish and take every second of this.”

“I’m honestly surprised you’re this sappy.” Akira teased Goro which earned a tight squeeze to his face before Goro leaned in for a sweet kiss and let go. “Good night, Goro.”

“Good night, Akira.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiya guys. i don't have a lot to say. mostly bc i didn't post this until midnight my time and i'm sleepy. i'll start with an obvious one, Akira's birthday. i realize popular fan date for his birthday is game release or whatever, but i wanted to do something fun with his birthday so i put it in now so it's dated in a good place to have fun with it. i think after 'bloom' everyone deserves some fun chapters. so this one had a sleep over! 
> 
> i'm sure people thought i was going to leave destiny land out completely since we skipped how haru's dad had his breakdown. but i wanted to do something fun with it so that's that part. uhhh
> 
> oh. i know something i wanted to bring up in that you see the point in the team where goro cares very much about what akira wants. when they're talking about celebrating birthdays he asks akira if he needs a bail out. he's always been a bit sensitive about what akira wants or needs compared to everyone else. my doing that is kind of because i'm a slut for soft goro moments. i know that it could write so the party isn't shitty about stuff. but akira is a mirror to everyone around him. love that fool arcana. everything and nothing all at once. goro gets it bc he could be like that too but he imprinted on akira first so his default mode is 'what does akira need? someone who does for him what he does for everyone else. i got this."
> 
> preview: 
> 
> _“You jealous?” Akira had to ask._
> 
> _“Of course I am.” Yusuke answered almost bitterly._


	27. phantom thieves in destiny land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the team celebrates birthdays for one more day of fun before the heist at sae niijima's palace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another fun light kind of chapter. don't worry, it goes back to depressing at some point.

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:11am:_ **The Hot Class Prez __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**The Hot Class Prez:** Should we just play hooky at this point?  
**glasses kink:** who is this and what have you done with makoto?  
**The Hot Class Prez:** We’re already very late at this point. No one set an alarm.  
**glasses kink:** yeah it might be better to stay in.  
**glasses kink:** sojiro won’t sell us out.  
**The Hot Class Prez:** I think that’ll work out for the best. I’m surprised you’re up.  
**glasses kink:** it’s because mona stepped on my face on his way to the bathroom and i can’t get back to sleep.  
**The Hot Class Prez:** When do you think the others will wake up?  
**glasses kink:** Judging from Sakamoto’s snoring, not for some time. I vote we make our way downstairs so we can at least speak.  
**glasses kink:** This is Akechi. I took his phone. I don’t know where mine is.  
**The Hot Class Prez:** I gathered.  
**glasses kink:** We’ll meet you downstairs.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

With the silent steps of true Phantom Thieves, Makoto, Akira, and Goro slipped downstairs. Sojiro was already working at the counter with no customers in sight. 

“Futaba said you kids were having a sleepover. I wondered if you went somewhere else since none of you came down. Playing hooky?” Sojiro raised an eyebrow at Goro. 

“No one set an alarm.” Goro offered one of his best fake smiles. “At this point it’s better not to go.” 

“My teacher will totally cover for me.” Akira reached up to adjust his glasses but was met instead with his face. “That’s why everything is blurry.” 

“I thought they were fake?” Makoto questioned.

“When I got here they were. My eyes were already boarding on crap anyway, then I started to spend more time looking at my phone.” Akira explained as he started to pull down coffee cups to brew for them. “So now they’re real glasses. Not strong, but everything is a bit blurry without them. I can still function for the most part.”

“I have to admit I didn’t notice when they became functioning glasses.” Goro cocked his head to one side.

“Stop doing that.” Akira leaned away from Goro even though there was a counter between them.

“What?” 

“Being cute.”

“You two…” Makoto let out a sigh as she held her head in her hands. “Akechi-kun what are you going to do when a tabloid finds out you’re dating him?”

“Lie.” Goro smiled brightly and it sent a chill down both Makoto and Akira’s spines. 

“I was wondering if you two were actually going to date. You’re so opposite I wasn’t sure.” Sojiro rubbed his chin in thought. “A detective and a delinquent with a criminal record.”

“Sojiro, you wound me.” Akira pouted. “I’m not a delinquent. I have the top grades in my class.” Sojiro simply laughed at that, leaving Akira pouting as he poured coffee for the three of them. “By the way, on the thirteenth we’re going to be having a party for mine and Ann’s birthdays at Destiny Land.” 

“Destiny Land huh? Well you guys have fun then. Try not to cause problems.” Sojiro warned Akira just before customers came inside. “You can stay down here just don’t cause trouble.” 

“Thanks _dad_.” Akira couldn’t help the grin on his face when Sojiro shot a glare at him for his reply.

After that the group sectioned off a small part of the cafe near the stairs for themselves. They were careful to not get too loud or rowdy. Though from the look Sojiro gave the sole customer who complained, Akira felt pretty sure that even if they were a bit out of hand Sojiro would defend them. When the afternoon came they finally parted ways, Haru left the extra blankets with Akira claiming they would have to do another sleepover in the future so it would be easier to just leave the blankets for that time. It was that same reasoning that Futaba convinced Sojiro to leave the extra futons.

Goro excused himself for a quick bath leaving Akira alone with Morgana in his room. “So, you two seem like you’re hitting it off pretty well.” Morgana said as he scratched behind his ear. “You’re sure it’s safe?” 

“He’s not really that different from the man that’s been with us all along. He’s a little sassier I think but overall the same.” Akira explained, turning away from his laptop as he shopped Tanaka’s shady online shop for items they could use in the near future.

“He could still try to kill you.” Morgana warned. “He can say anything he likes but we’ll see what really happens. I’m just worried that you’re going to get yourself killed because you’re that desperate to be loved.”

“You don’t pull any punches do you?” Akira flinched at Morgana’s words.

“It’s your life we’re talking about, Akira.” Morgana snapped. “I get that you love him, but he’s hurt a lot of people and I don’t know that he’s really changed. We don’t know what’s behind that mask of his. We still haven’t seen his second persona.”

“Maybe not, but I’ve already made my decision on this.” Akira folded his arms as he crossed his legs. “I don’t expect everyone else to just follow my lead. I imagine you guys probably talk about how I’ve lost my mind here, but I love him. So I’m going to trust him. If I end up dead because of it… well… I hope he just knows that I trusted him until the end.” 

“You’re an idiot.” Morgana shook his head but there was no bite to his words. “Our idiot leader who lets his heart lead more than his head. I guess that’s fitting for the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. I had to ask just in case you had any doubts. You have my support.”

“Thanks, Mona.” Akira turned his attention back to his laptop. A minute later there was a knock from the stairs. “Yeah?” Akira turned to watch Goro make his way up. “Good bath?” 

“It was fine. A bit on the warm side thanks to one enthusiastic old man.” Goro moved into the room to sit down on the bed to take out his phone.

“Yeah… that guy likes to boil alive.” Akira got to his feet to sit with Goro. “You setting an alarm?” 

“Yes, I don’t want to miss another day.” Goro smiled sweetly before looking across the room at Morgana. After a few minutes of silence Morgana curled up to sleep and Goro sent Akira a message.

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _7:00pm:_ **Goro __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Goro** : I feel like I need to make it abundantly clear I have no intention of betraying you. Yes, this is coming out because I overheard you and Mona. I know it’s nearly impossible to make everyone believe my intentions but out of everyone involved in all this I want to make sure that you of all people know that I’m serious. I just need you to trust me. Please.  
**Akira** : I was worried you heard that. I hope you heard what I said too.  
**Goro** : I did.  
**Akira** : Then you know I’m serious. I had no idea you were listening until just now.  
**Goro** : I know.  
**Akira** : Then let’s make this deal. I’ll trust you. You show them you can be trusted.  
**Goro** : I was already planning that.  
**Akira** : Great.  
**Goro** : I’ll admit to feeling a bit uneasy though.  
**Akira** : Hey, I’ll take the admission as a sign you really do trust me. It’ll be okay.  
**Goro** : Akira, about your therapist…  
**Akira** : You want to talk to him?  
**Goro** : Would it be odd to request you there as well?  
**Akira** : I don’t think so. He’s super into doing whatever makes you comfortable.  
**Goro** : Would it be possible to do over a text form?  
**Akira** : You don’t want him to know who you are?  
**Goro** : For now, no.  
**Akira** : I can set something up I think. Let me make a group for it so you can change your name before I add him? If he’s down for it.  
**Goro** : I would appreciate that.  
**Akira** : I’ll set something up soon. Okay?  
**Goro** : Yeah.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

A week later.

_** AKIRA’S ANIME HAREM ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _12:37pm:_ **The Hot Class Prez __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**The Hot Class Prez:** So we’re going to meet in front of Destiny Land at seven right?  
**BigBootyCarrot:** Yes! We’ll have the park to ourselves until one in the morning.  
**twink bara** : hell yeah!  
**BigBootyCarrot:** I’ve arranged for a birthday cake at nine so we’ll have to meet in the courtyard around then. The food carts will give us anything we want since it’s all already been paid for.  
**sensual keystroke:** no micro transactions? HELL YES!  
**PrinceType:** I’ll be a tad late. I have a meeting at seven but I’ll be there before the cake.  
**glasses kink:** you mean i have to spend my time getting absolutely TRASHED on the roller coasters without you?  
**glasses kink:** this is me-phobic  
**PrinceType:** You’ll be fine.  
**glasses kink:** you don’t know my life.  
**twink bara:** its ok bro  
**twink bara:** i got you  
**twink bara:** we’ll hit the rides until we both puke.  
**glasses kink:** bro…  
**Sexy Lobster Artist:** I’ll join you as well.  
**glasses kink:** BRO!  
**twink bara:** hell yea!! were gunna ruin some rides!!  
**sensual strawberries:** don’t get too out of hand you guys. we’re not getting haru in trouble.  
**BigBootyCarrot:** I don’t think the three of them could do that much damage, but do be careful. It would be tragic if one of you were to get hurt in your rough housing. 😃  
**glasses kink:** haha i’m in danger.  
**twink bara:** WELL BE CAREFUL  
**Sexy Lobster Artist:** We would never do anything so careless.  
**sensual strawberries:** uh-huh.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : If you three cause trouble I’ll make sure you make up for it in community service.  
**glasses kink** : ha. i actually like community service.  
**twink bara** : for real?  
**glasses kink:** i was an origami crane folder before i came here.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : Why?  
**glasses kink** : ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
**glasses kink** : i guess because it was a nice thing to do?  
**glasses kink** : a good break between studies without losing focus?  
**The Hot Class Prez** : You study a lot don’t you?  
**glasses kink** : sojiro yells at me when i multitask my studying but it’s just how i’ve always done.  
**glasses kink** : it’s not like there’s anything else to do back home.  
**glasses kink** : ‘ah yes. you’re going on probation away from home! go to tokyo as punishment!’  
**glasses kink** : i arrive in tokyo.  
**glasses kink** : i’ve never had so much fun in my life?  
**glasses kink** : i got a boyfriend out of it???  
**glasses kink** : i should have committed crimes sooner.  
**sensual strawberries** : asdgkl;hsda akira no.  
**glasses kink** : akira yes.  
**glasses kink:** i was already gay. i was just missing the crimes, ann.  
**sensual strawberries:** omg all of us are gay or allies and commiting crimes here.  
**Sexy Lobster Artist:** I’d have it no other way.  
**susual keystroke:** why are we ‘The Phantom Thieves’ why did we miss the oppritunity to name ourselves ‘be gay do crimes’?  
**glasses kink** : because i’m a shabby leader.  
**glasses kink** : i’ve never hated myself more than i do right now. can i take our name back?  
**sensual keystroke** : i fear it may be too late.  
**glasses kink** : i have failed as a leader. you all deserve better. mona is the leader now.  
**glasses kink:** wait. i know how to fix this.  


**glasses kink has changed the group name to BE GAY DO CRIMES.**

**glasses kink:** ok i can be the leader again.  
**sensual strawberries:** oh no. i need a new name.  
**glasses kink:** you’re all perfect just the way you are.  
**twink bara** : ew het  
**glasses kink:** i will slap you with my boyfriend’s briefcase if you call me that again.  


**sensual strawberries has changed Ann’s name to keysmash lesbian.**

**glasses kink:** shit that’s a good one.  
**The Hot Class Prez** : Back on the previous topic. It still strikes me odd that Tokyo was their choice for your probation. You’d have thought you would have been better off where you were?  
**glasses kink:** perhaps. but i was ejected from my school faster than the judge hit the gavel.  
**glasses kink:** and i guess they thought homeschool was too cushy for probation.  
**glasses kink** : they were trying to figure out what to do with me when a family friend talked to sojiro and here i am.  
**glasses kink** : i just stopped questioning it ages ago. i’m not complaining about being here. i made some awesome friends, got a cute boyfriend, and my new dad isn’t disappointed i’m with a guy.  
**PrinceType:** 🗡️  
**glasses kink:** ilu2  
**twink bara** : ur gunna keep mentioning boyfriend arent u?  
**glasses kink** : yes. :D  


**sensual keystroke has changed Yusuke’s name to CommisionsAreOpen.**

**sensual keystroke has changed Ryuji’s name to AllBirawnNoBirain.**

**sensual keystroke has changed Haru’s name to The Perfect Gay™.**

**sensual keystroke has changed Akira’s name to disaster gay.**

**sensual keystroke has changed Makoto’s name to Driving Gay.**

**sensual keystroke has changed Futaba’s name to asexual gremlin.**

**asexual grimlin has changed Goro’s name to Fuck the Police.**

**disaster gay:** futaba…  
**asexual gremlin:** FINE.  


**asexual gremlin has changed Goro’s name to coffee gay.**

**coffee gay: ☕**  
**asexual gremlin:** i think he likes it?  
**disaster gay:** i think so.  
**Driving Gay:** Your parents don’t approve of your sexuality?  
**disaster gay** : not really. they’re still kinda stuck in the old ways. curse of a small town in bumfuck nowhere.  
**disaster gay** : i’d probably be closeted if i were back there.  
**disaster gay** : i think they’d be upset i won’t “give them any grandkids” or something.  
**asexual gremlin** : just adopt.  
**disaster gay** : let me live to see graduation then we’ll see what i plan for my life.  
**disaster gay** : it’s also not just MY say.  
**The Perfect Gay™** : I think you would make a wonderful father!  
**disaster gay** : thank you haru. light of my life. kindest person i know. i love you.  
**The Perfect Gay™** : I love you too Akira!  
**disaster gay:** alright phantom gays, i’m going to go get ready. i’ll see you guys in a few hours.  
**The Perfect Gay™** : See you soon everyone!  
**asexual gremlin** : gifts are wrapped. next mission marker, meet akira at leblanc at five. mission start!  
**AllBirawnNoBirain:** shit  
**AllBirawnNoBirain:** SEE YOU GUYS THERE  
**CommisionsAreOpen:** I believe Ryuiji forgot gifts.  
**keysmash lesbian:** you better have SOMETHING for both of us ryuji!  
**disaster gay:** the only gift i need is all of you.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain:** bro 🥺  
**disaster gay** : so get two things for ann  
**AllBirawnNoBirain:** fuck  
**Driving Gay:** Good luck, Ryuji.  
**asexual gremlin:** f’s in chat for ryuji  
**The Perfect Gay™:** F  
**disaster gay:** F  
**CommisionsAreOpen:** F  
**Driving Gay:** F  
**keysmash lesbian:** F  
**coffee gay:** F  
**AllBirawnNoBirain:** not akechi too shit  
**coffee gay:** Even I got Takamaki-san a gift.  
**keysmash lesbian:** see that? get moving ryuji! the clock is ticking!  
**disaster gay:** what about me?  
**coffee gay:** That goes without saying.  
**disaster gay:** what if i need validation?  
**coffee gay:** I love you. Now weren’t you going to go get ready?  
**disaster gay:** yeah. later skaters.  
**keysmash lesbian** : AWWWWW. CUTE.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** MUNEHISA IWAI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _4:14pm:_ **Iwai __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Iwai:** You free to work tonight?  
**Akira** : Sorry. Out celebrating birthdays with friends.  
**Iwai** : Yours?  
**Akira** : Among them, yeah.  
**Iwai** : Got it. See you around.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** HIFUMI TOGO ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _4:36pm:_ **Hifumi __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Hifumi:** Kitagawa-kun mentioned you were celebrating your birthday together tonight. I want to wish you a happy birthday and hope you have a fun night.  
**Akira** : Thanks. I’ll swing by for a game again sometime soon I promise.  
**Hifumi** : ☖  
**Akira** : ⛊  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ CHIHAYA MIFUNE _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _4:59pm:_ **Chihaya __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Chihaya:** the Cards have told me you’re celebrating something today..  
**Akira** : my birthday was on the 31st.  
**Chihaya** : a little late isn’t it??  
**Akira** : i wasn’t trying to celebrate it but i was found out.  
**Chihaya** : I see.. well I wish you a happy birthday.. enjoy your night..  
**Akira** : thanks. see you for a reading soon.  
**Chihaya** : the Cards and I will be waiting!!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ SADAYO KAWAKAMI _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _5:41pm:_ **Kawakami __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Kawakami** : I ran into Sakamoto in Shibuya. He looked like he was panicking about something so I just had to stick my nose in. He told me he was trying to get gifts for you and Takamaki’s birthdays.  
**Akira** : good ol’ ryuji. last minute king.  
**Kawakami** : Well, happy birthday. I’ll give you a free service as a gift.  
**Akira** : i thought all your services were free now?  
**Kawakami** : I’ll give you a free pass on one (1) homework assignment as a gift.  
**Akira** : that ten page paper is only on page three…  
**Kawakami** : Fine. You have a free passing grade. Enjoy your birthday.  
**Akira** : 🙏 thank you.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** TAE TAKEMI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _6:05pm:_ **Takemi __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Takemi:** I stopped by the cafe for coffee and Sakura-san told me you’re off celebrating your birthday.  
**Akira** : everyone’s hearing about it today.  
**Takemi** : It’s nice to know you lived to see your birthday celebrated. Do you want a gift?  
**Akira** : hm. what to ask for?  
**Takemi** : I could gift you some lube.  
**Akira** : You’re an adult.  
**Takemi** : I’m also your doctor. Supporting safe sexual wellness between you and your partner is important.  
**Akira** : you got me there.  
**Takemi** : Stop by sometime and I’ll have that ready for you.  
**Akira** : 👍  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _6:45pm:_ **Yuuki __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yuuki:** Got another request from the Phan-Site.  
**Akira** : shoot  
**Yuuki** : There’s a guy around Shibuya who’s apparently a merc.  
**Akira** : what kind of merc?  
**Yuuki** : He’s supposedly been murdering people he finds guilty of pretty much any crime.  
**Akira** : oh. the cops aren’t after him?  
**Yuuki** : The cops are scared stiff of him. The best I can figure is to force a change of heart so he turns himself in quietly.  
**Akira** : sounds dangerous, but i get your point. i’ll look into it. what’s the name?  
**Yuuki** : His name is Yohei Kiritani. Just be careful.  
**Akira** : sure  
**Yuuki** : Also please tell Takamaki-san I said Happy Birthday!  
**Akira** : none for me?  
**Yuuki** : Yours is today?  
**Akira** : nah. 31st last month.  
**Yuuki** : Oh… Well since we’re not having fake sex anymore I’ll have to come up with a proper gift. Happy birthday though! I’ll see you at school tomorrow.  
**Akira** : ✌️  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Seven approached with Akira finishing the last of the texts he was going to answer for the night and Futaba bouncing around excitedly with Morgana. Akira pocketed his phone as Haru arrived with Makoto Ann, and Shiho in tow. A few minutes later Yusuke was there just on time with Ryuji showing up five minutes late.

“At least Akechi let us know he was going to be late.” Futaba chided Ryuji as they finally walked into the park. Haru stopped to speak with the ticketer about Goro’s late arrival, making sure they knew exactly who he was and that he was allowed in. With that detail taken care of the group set out to have a fun night.

Akira, Ryuji, and Yusuke went right to the coaster and rode it a few times in a row. After the fourth time Ryuji was ready to hurl, Akira felt a little motion sickness creeping up, and Yusuke was perfectly fine. The two boarding on sickness couldn’t lose to Yusuke though. It wasn’t going to happen. So they decided to go again. After one more time Ryuji gave up and hugged a trash can, Akira kept pace with Yusuke for three more rounds before he had to give up and lay on a bench to make the world stop spinning. 

“Ah, I believe I’m feeling a bit of motion sickness as well.” Yusuke touched his head lightly.

“A bit.” Akira said almost bitterly as he finally sat back up. “I’m so glad we decided to do this before putting any food in me.” 

“I didn’t eat and I’m still… hhhhhgh.” Ryuji whined into the trash once more. “Guys I’m gunna pass out.” Ryuji said using the trash can for support.

“Maybe we should get him some water?” Yusuke questioned.

“Let’s take a break from rides for a bit.” Akira stood with a sway. “Come on Ryuji. Let’s go sit down somewhere with more air.” Akira pulled Ryuji away from the trash and with Yusuke’s help the three of them made their way to just outside a souvenir shop. Yusuke left the two of them for a moment to get each of them water.

When he returned, the three sat in silence for a few minutes until Ryuji spoke, “you sure about Akechi man?” 

Akira let out a sigh. They were taking turns or something weren’t they? At least Yusuke and Ryuji were coming at him at the same time so he could just get this done with.

“Listen! He’s super fuckin’ sketchy and there’s no way he’s just going to flip like that.” Ryuji was clearly not convinced by anything Goro had said before. At least Goro already knew he was going to be doubted by everyone. Though, even if Goro said it wasn’t going to bother him much Akira was sure it would. “And he’s why Haru’s dad is fucking dead even if he didn’t pull the trigger. Not to mention Futaba’s mom...”

“That’s not fair to him.” Akira frowned at Ryuji. “I’m going to put my life on the line to prove that he’s with us.” Akira let his head fall back against the back of the bench to stare up at the sky.

“I think that you know what you’re doing.” Yusuke pat Akira’s arm. This wasn’t something Akira expected, Yusuke was on his side. Maybe it was because he just wanted to see him happy? “You have my support. Just remember, you are a very important friend to all of us. Anyone else who brings up concerns is just worried. We don’t wish to see you harmed.” 

“I get that.” Akira nodded.

“So why trust him so blindly? Like, I get trusting him, but to straight up tell him our plans to keep you alive? It’s crazy! Now if he really wants to kill you there’s nothing between him and your life!” Ryuji nudged Akira hard. “We should have kept our plans to the chest until after in case he still wants to actually kill you!”

“He could have easily done it already.” Akira waved a hand. “A few times.”

“Yes but,” Yusuke spoke carefully, “I believe Ryuji’s worried that he might be holding off his murder plot because there’s the fact that a teenager dying to hanahaki, or in some lovelorn fashion, is not nearly as effective for shattering moreal as the leader of The Phantom Thieves dying in police custody.” 

“I get it.” Akira sucked in a long breath then pulled his head back up to look at his two friends. “I know I could still end up dead, there’s no way to one hundred percent tell if I’m totally safe, but I trust him because it’s my choice. Just like I trust you guys.” 

“Hey, we’re not the same.” Ryuji frowned. “I’d never sell you out or try killin’ you.” 

“Indeed.” Yusuke looked offended that this was even a topic.

“It **is** the same. I take your promises just like that, at face value. You’ve saved my skin in the past, just like he has. You haven’t caused anyone to go in a shutdown, sure, but each of us has our issues.” Akira tried to explain in the best way he could. “So I’m putting my life in his hands as much as I would if it were you guys. He just needs someone to trust him.”

Ryuji and Yusuke fell silent for a while, clearly not sure how they could counter that. Eventually they seemed to both give up. Rather than continue to drag the topic on, Ryuji jumped up to his feet with a stretch. “Alright, we got more places to see and rides to get sick on before the end of the night!” 

“Right. Let’s go.” Yusuke got to his feet as well to offer his hand to Akira which he took. Ryuji marched on in front of them as the two of them walked a bit slower. 

“You jealous?” Akira had to ask. 

“Of course I am.” Yusuke answered almost bitterly. Akira had honestly expected Yusuke to play it off at least a little but he went right for it. “I knew it would have to happen this way to keep you alive but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.” 

“I know.” Akira nodded. “He apparently heard us talking in Futaba’s room all the way back in July. So he knew for a while that we had sex.” Akira explained. “Told me he might get jealous if I flirt with you anymore.” 

“I thought I sensed a difference.” Yusuke noted.

“I do care about you Yusuke,” Akira reassured him, “but we came as far as we’re going to as anything more than friends. You deserve someone better than me. You deserve someone that’ll make you truly happy and want to be with just you.”

“So you told me before.” Yusuke nodded looking a bit sad. “Sometimes I wish my feelings hadn’t developed as they did. It would be easier to let you go.”

“Thank you for loving me, Yusuke.” Akira stopped them to pull Yusuke down to kiss his cheek. “Someday you’ll find someone better suited to you.” 

“I hope so. For now I might as well channel my emotions into my art.” Yusuke let out a single sad laugh. “Let’s catch up to Ryuji before he gets too far ahead.” Yusuke pointed out to Ryuji who had gotten pretty far away from them now. Once Akira spotted him, Yusuke began to run to catch up to him with Akira trailing behind. He felt bad about Yusuke but there was still a chance everything could go wrong and on top of that Goro needed him. 

Goro would never admit to needing him but Akira knew.

________________________________________________________

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _8:15pm:_ **Goro __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Goro** : Where are you?  
**Goro __** _(8:22pm):_ I have to assume you’re on a ride somewhere.  
**Goro __** _(8:39pm):_ I’ve tried to just look for you but this park is too large. Please tell me where you are.  
**Goro __** _(8:55pm):_ I suppose I’ll just have to meet you at the courtyard. Futaba and Mona are already here.  
**Goro __** _(8:55pm):_ I can sense the distrust from them. It’s warranted of course but still unsettling.  
**Goro __** _(8:56pm):_ I miss you.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira being his normal self did not answer his phone, why? For the sole reason that he and his two friends teamed up with Ann, Shiho, and Makoto to go on the water ride. Was it a good idea in November? No. Did Akira remember to put his phone in a place it wouldn’t get wet? Absolutely not.

So when the six of them arrived at the courtyard wet, cold, and laughing, Akira had no idea that his boyfriend had been waiting almost an hour for him.

“Hey!” Akira waved then did a little walk-jog to close the distance. “Want a hug?” he threw his arms open to show just how wet he was, which was properly soaked.

“You’re going to catch a cold.” Goro shook his head. “I assume your phone is in your bag or something and that’s why you didn’t answer me then?” 

“My phone?” Akira looked in confusion before pulling his phone out of his pocket. “No it’s right here. Look-” Akira motioned to turn it on to check for messages but before he could Goro snatched it from his fingers.

“Don’t!” Goro held it out of reach when Akira tried to take it back by reflex. “It’s shut off because it got wet. The best thing to do is give it a few days to dry out before you try to turn it on again. If you turn it on too soon you’ll ruin it.”

“Correct!” Futaba called as she bounced over. “Put it in with some rice and it’ll dry faster. Your phone is kind of important to the _plan_ so make sure you don’t mess it up!” Futaba pointed at Akira. “Next time you think about getting drenched think more about your phone and how we need it to work!”

“R-right. Sorry.” Akira played with his bangs nervously.

“Akechi you better keep his phone for now. Habit says he’ll try looking at it before it’s ready.” Futaba suggested.

“You trust me with it?” Goro raised an eyebrow. Futaba hadn’t called Goro by his first name since the truth of her mother came out. Maybe even before that. Akira hadn’t been paying attention to it until now.

“He trusts you so I’ll do it too.” Futaba adjusted her glasses. Was this her turn to question Akira’s trust? Well, no. It seemed she was going right for Goro rather than talk to Akira first. “I probably won’t ever forgive you for what happened to my mom, your fault or not. But if you’re serious about him I can try to put it aside. So don’t fuck up or Alibaba will plaster your true face all over.” Futaba grinned wickedly. 

“I’ll do my best.” Goro looked between Akira and Futaba a few times before putting Akira’s phone in his pocket.

“Thanks for your support Futaba.” Akira smiled.

“Yeah well, everyone’s worried about you in some way or another, I’m just coming out to say that if Akechi hurts you I won’t just hide in my room and cry anymore.” Futaba gave Akira a rather proud look before looking at Goro again. “I will make sure you don’t make it out unscathed if something happens to him.” 

Her piece said Futaba flashed a peace sign then trotted off to find Morgana and mess with his fur. Goro waited until he was sure they weren’t being listened to to speak to Akira, “I think everyone expects me to betray you.”

“I can’t speak for **all** of them but I’m pretty sure you’re right. It’s okay though you just have to prove them wrong by not meeting their expectation.” Akira took a seat with Goro.

“I don’t think it works quite like that.” 

“Just work with me,” Akira motioned with his hand in a so-so manner, “point is that we’ll just have to power on through it.”

“ _We_?” 

“Yes, Goro. We. You’re not alone anymore. I’m right there beside you. I’m your partner.” Akira offered Goro a soft smile. “You don’t have to carry the weight alone anymore. You helped me when I said managing the team solo was too hard. So I’m here to help you too.” 

Goro stared at Akira for a long time. His expression left Akira with the impression he was trying to figure out what angle Akira was playing at and it honestly made him feel a bit hurt. He wanted to say more to try and convince Goro he was on his side but the cake came out. Akira put a mental pin in the conversation as the group gathered around him and Ann to sing birthday wishes and exchange gifts.

“Ryuji you cheapskate,” Ann rolled her eyes at the mini cactus Ryuji had given her.

“I was panicking!” Ryuji tried to defend himself.

“Where’s mine bro?” Akira pouted. 

“You said not to get you anything!”

“I didn’t say that. I said get Ann two things, I only see one so I have to assume you got me something.”

“Oh hell.” Ryuji buried his head in his hands with a groan earning a laugh from the group as a whole.

“Who’s left?” Ann looked around, everyone had given gifts sans Goro. He put two boxes on the table to push toward her and Akira respectively. “You really didn’t need to Akechi-kun.”

“Why does he get a pass?!” Ryuji blurted out. 

“I would never be so rude to not give both of you a gift. Please enjoy.” Goro stepped back to watch as Ann ripped her gift open first. A rainbow metallic keyring with a key and a cat head skull charm.

“Oh this is pretty.” Ann inspected the metal, in the intention of the cat’s head it read ‘dead men don’t catcall’ in bold font. “What’s the key for?” 

“Inspect it a bit closer.” Goro pointed at it prompting Ann to feel over the ridges before she pulled at a space near the top to reveal a knife. “I know you’re a model, and in that line of work you attract some rather… unwanted fans.” 

“Oooooo! Now this is a thoughtful gift!” Ann looked at the blade before putting it back in place, the weapon nearly undetectable in it’s closed position. “Thanks Akechi-kun! It’s perfect.” 

“Nothing like giving a girl a knife in disguise.” Ryuji muttered, he looked bothered by the fact Goro was receiving praise and he was not.

“Listen, that’s the best part. I dare some creep to sneak up on me now.” Ann sounded almost gleeful as she took out her keys to attach her new keyring.

“I’m glad that my gift was met with such praise.” Goro looked rather pleased with himself and Akira could almost swear it was a real smile. “Are you going to open yours?” 

“Is it rated E for everyone?” Akira joked, picking up his small box to open it. Goro’s smile turned knowing as if telling Akira that anything more mature would be much more secret. Once Akira got the box open he was met with a simple woven band in black and red leather. The clasps were silver with a silver plate across the front that read love in loopy writing. Connected to it was a small star charm with an engraved ‘A’. Akira wondered if it was A for Akira or A for Akechi. Either way it was actually very cute. “I like it.” Akira said without looking to Goro. He could sense the underlying nervous energy radiating off of him in waves.

“I remember you mentioned you liked stars.” Goro explained as he stepped forward to help Akira fit the bracelet on his wrist.

“It’s simple but it’s very fitting.” Haru smiled as she linked her fingers together.

“Truly.” Yusuke agreed. 

“Man, I get Ann a cactus and get ripped apart.” Ryuji groaned.

Everyone shared a laugh at that before breaking off to have a bit more fun before fireworks at midnight. Akira decided he was going to drag Goro onto some rides he missed since he was busy before. Goro was reluctant to go on anything fast, but with enough of Akira’s goading he was convinced to try a roller coaster once. His hair looked about as amazing as it had when Akira let him try on his glasses.

After a few other fast rides Goro picked the next ride, the ferris wheel. Shiho had apparently gotten the same idea for her and Ann as the two couples chanced one another on their way to the ride. The girls got onto the first car then the boys onto the next.

A comfortable silence fell over the pair as they slowly rose up until it stopped just angled so they could oversee the whole park but not intrude on whatever Shiho and Ann were up to, “About my gift,” Goro spoke after a minute, “there’s one other thing I wanted to give you.” 

“Is it sex?” Akira had to ask. 

“No. That comes later.” Goro smirked at the question. “It’s actually this.” Goro reached into his pocket then held his hand out to show a small silver key with a black thin ribbon tied into a bow on it. “I didn’t want to give it to you in front of everyone else.” Akira didn’t have to guess why Goro wanted to keep it a secret, he was turning bright red. How had he managed to keep a straight face when Akira asked about sex but this key was making his face match his eyes?

“Is this a key to your suitcase?” Akira questioned with a laugh. He knew what it really was but he wanted to help his boyfriend not feel as stressed out.

“It’s to my apartment.” Goro shook his head with a laugh. Akira’s task in relieving stress seemed to be a success. “Once you’re ‘dead’ I can’t go back to Leblanc. It’ll be too strange from the perspective of the people watching me. So you can use this to visit me instead.” 

“So you walking into Leblanc is weird but a deadman walking into your apartment isn’t?” Akira questioned. 

“If you disguise yourself properly it won’t be.” Goro leaned in closer to Akira. “So make sure it’s a good one.” 

“Hmmm, I have an idea.” Akira leaned toward Goro in return to give him a kiss. “How do you feel about maids? I know someone I can borrow a costume from.” 

“Please don’t show up to my apartment as a maid.” Goro turned his face away to shake his head with a laugh. 

“I’ll save the maid thing for later then.” Akira teased using a finger to turn Goro’s face back toward him. “Thanks for coming tonight.” 

“Yes, well, you made it a point that they’re my friends as well.” Goro turned his body to face Akira a bit better to draw him in for another kiss, this one with more tongue. Akira wasn’t complaining as Goro pulled him closer. Neither of them realized when the ride began to move again until the door slid open so they separated as if repelled by similar polarity magnets.

“You guys were having fun huh?” Ann questioned teasingly when they came through the ride exit. “I didn’t mean to spy but Shiho pointed at you two making out. I think she still has a hard time believing we have Akechi-kun as a friend, even harder believing that you two are dating.”

“I trust she won’t tell people?” Goro questioned Ann before motioning over at Shiho getting pretzels.

“Nah, she’s had enough with rumors to swear off spreading any herself.” Ann waved her hand dismissively. “That being said, that looked like a lot of passion. I guess this just means I’ll believe you really do love him.” Ah, Ann’s turn now. “If you betray him I’ll make sure you regret it.” Ann smiled sweetly.

“Ann, please.” Akira ran a hand through his hair awkwardly.

“I just wanted to say something before we go back into the palace. Everyone’s nervous and scared at the same time. I’ve been having a hard time believing anything we found out. I mean… you’re still my go to crape pal Akechi-kun. So, I’ll be counting on you to watch my back in the palace and to find some tasty crape places.” Ann sounded much more enthusiastic now.

“Please, call me Goro.” 

“Then you better call me Ann.” Ann flashed a peace sign. “Let’s get some ear bands before the fireworks start! I think Goro-kun would look best with some rabbit ears!” 

“Are there cat ears?” Akira twisted his bangs.

“Yeah! They have ones with tophats and bows!” 

“Hell yes, I’m getting the tophat. I’m a classy bitch.” Akira walked with Ann pausing when he realized Goro wasn’t following just yet. “You coming?” 

“Yes.” Goro shook his head to break himself out of whatever thoughts he was getting lost in. He caught up to Akira and Ann to reach his hand out to hold Akira’s firmly. Akira wondered if Goro was still worried about everyone else. Akira would just have to keep defending him.

___________________________________________

_** STAR WARS EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _7:01am: **prolly won’t stab you** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**prolly won’t stab you:** Good morning fellow Phantom Dweebs. I would like to announce that I love my boyfriend very much.  
**Pixar Mom:** Uh, Akechi-kun?  
**tiny pizza table** : maybe he’s drunk.  
**banana_hammock:** holy shit  
**prolly won’t stab you:** Yes. I am drunk………………...with love.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : sounds fake.  
**prolly won’t stab you:** I’m offended.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad:** The confession of love in such a public space… it’s… inspiring?  
**prolly won’t stab you:** Thank you Yusuke. All I want to do is confess my love from the mountains. I’m going to announce my love on TV.  
**T & Tea:** That might not be the best idea though Akechi-kun. Wouldn’t Shido or his people find that odd?  
**prolly won’t stab you:** It’s fine. I have everything carefully plaganskadjdjlg;2’  
**banana_hammock:** he had a stroke  
**prolly won’t stab you:** That was Akira. I have no intention of proclaiming anything on TV and all public confessions are rescinded.  
**Pixar Mom** : I figured as much.  
**tiny pizza table** : it was obvious.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : yep.  
**banana_hammock** : wait  
**banana_hammock:** was i the only one who didnt know?  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : Evidently.  
**banana_hammock** : damnit  
**prolly won’t stab you:** Akira’s phone is currently unusable for a few days to ensure that it isn’t useless before we steal Sae-san’s treasure. We don’t know the install rate of the Meta-Nav if his phone IS destroyed and he has to get a new one.  
**tiny pizza table** : i was worried about that so i’ve been setting up my phone to also work. if his phone is KO’d i’ll give him mine before the final mission starts!  
**prolly won’t stab you:** A good idea. Anyway, we’ll be on our way to school now. Remember Akira won’t be reachable by phone for now.  
**T & Tea:** Okay! Be safe!  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : Indeed.  
**tiny pizza table** : have fun at school guys.  
**Pixar Mom** : Try not to be late today.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : already on my way!  
**banana_hammock** : wait  


banana_hammock: why is akira talking from akechis phone this early in the morning?  
**T & Tea**: ...  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : ...  
**tiny pizza table:** ...  
**Pixar Mom:** ...  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : …  
**prolly won’t stab you:** we had sex.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : asdagklsdgkl  


**prolly won’t stab you has changed Goro’s name to prolly WILL stab you.**

**tiny pizza table:** uh-oh!  
**prolly WILL stab you** : I promise not to stab anything he’ll miss. 🙂  
**Bob Ross is my Dad:** rip Akira  
**T & Tea:** He will be missed.  
**my gf is hotter than urs:** a good friend.  
**tiny pizza table:** i’ll take care of his cat.  
**prolly WILL stab you** : morgana says he’s not a cat.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S BEEN TOO DAYS. TIME TO POST AGAIN.
> 
> so i really wanted to do cute things that are fun because i waved to. i don't have a lot to say in this chapter but i did get a beta. i won't name names bc they're having fun teasing people with hidden knowledge but yeah, so praise be. also one of the readers in my discord server, zoey, is having a rough time with her poor kit so this is another reason i posted a chapter now. please enjoy and look forward to the next when things go back to serious!
> 
> oh right before i forget the artist i won the raffle from finished my goro outfit com! So here he is. Please show the artist some love! <3 [click thiissssssss](https://twitter.com/xmoonangelxx/status/1296220461576200192)
> 
> preview: _“The biggest factor in all this is me. You don’t have to stress out about it so much.” Akira moved around the couch to sit with Goro. “There isn’t much you can do other than what we agreed on.”_
> 
> _“You inspire confidence.” Goro rolled his eyes. “I… if you end up dead I don’t know what I’m going to do. Probably something foolish.”_
> 
> _“No killing Shido.” Akira poked Goro on the arm._
> 
> _“I refuse to promise that.” Goro folded his arms tightly around his chest._


	28. trust is hard to earn back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> goro is too nervous to sleep resulting in a talk between him and akira about what'll happen if things go wrong. before sending the calling card akira meets with maruki one more time which gives him an opportunity to offer some help for goro before the fight with sae.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you guys can have a little more fluff with some feel good, as a treat.

The day of the eighteenth came faster than any of them were ready for. Akira’s phone recovered from it’s swim so there were no worries about that so it left them with the normal worrying about if this plan was going to be involved enough to actually fool Shido.

The morning before the calling card was to be sent, Goro had woken up at nearly four to start preparing for everything. They had stayed at his apartment for the night. It gave them the time they needed to cope with what was going to happen the following day. Akira also liked being at Goro’s place. They had more privacy. There was a small issue where Goro had very little by the way of seating though. 

Akira had made fun of him a little the first night he stayed over but Goro really had just enough in his apartment to consider it lived in but beyond that it was pretty bare. There was a couch with a coffee table in front of it. A TV on a stand with a cable box attached. There was a small entry table to deposit keys on, a coat rack near that, and a microwave. A small roomba moved around the apartment from time to time, something Akira had given to Goro some time back, so the floor was nice and clean at least.

A few days after Akira first came over Goro had apparently gotten a small cat bed for Morgana to sleep in the event that he wanted to stay with them. Everything else was typical appliances so nothing Goro bought himself. Akira needed to get him a coffee maker.

The only thing Akira was sure Goro put thought into was his bed. After half a year or so of a lumpy futon sitting on a slab of plywood and some egg crates, Akira was in love with Goro’s bed. It was big enough for them both to fit on comfortably and just the right level of soft for Akira. Honestly, Akira was tempted to live out his days of pretending to be dead right in Goro’s apartment if only to sleep in his bed every night.

It might not have been a terrible idea. They did have internet so it wouldn’t be completely boring. Akira would need to do something about Goro’s fridge being completely devoid of anything other than leftover take out or store bentos. Akira really felt like a failure as a boyfriend when he looked at how Goro ate. He needed to save this man from himself.

Akira was pulled from his thoughts to the sound of paper shuffling around. Goro had slipped out of bed and was messing with something elsewhere in the apartment. He was nervous about how things were going to go tomorrow night. Akira couldn’t blame him but it was much too early to try getting out of bed yet, even for school.

Akira waited a few minutes to see if maybe Goro was just going to the bathroom but when he didn’t come back after ten minutes Akira got up to seek out his boyfriend. He made his way out to the living room to find Goro poring over his notes. Akira paused to stare at the scene before him. 

Goro looked exhausted and his hair was thrown up into a messy ponytail. It was a pretty relaxed look for Goro which Akira appreciated seeing but he doubted that Goro was anything but relaxed. Had he gotten literally any sleep at all? He was trying to plan for every contingency even if it was impossible and sacrificing sleep to do it.

“It’s four in the morning.” Akira said breaking the absolute silence of the apartment and making Goro nearly jump out of his skin. 

“Why are you awake?” Goro turned to face him quickly. 

“I could ask you the same.” Akira dragged his feet over to Goro to lean over the couch to look at the notes he’d been scanning. “You know you’re going to be a liability if you don’t get any sleep.” Akira stated which made Goro frown deeply. “I’m just being honest.” 

“I… I know.” Goro sighed before he dropped his papers on the table then dragged a hand through his hair until he pulled the hair tie off. “Every time I fall asleep I keep having nightmares about how this will play out.” 

Akira was actually a little surprised by this information. For the weeks leading up to this Goro had seemed strangely confident but now that it was getting closer to time he was clearly nervous and maybe even scared. This was something Akira could relate to. He’d gone through the same thing with his hanahaki. 

“The biggest factor in all this is me. You don’t have to stress out about it so much.” Akira moved around the couch to sit with Goro. “There isn’t much you can do other than what we agreed on.” 

“You inspire confidence.” Goro rolled his eyes. “I… if you end up dead I don’t know what I’m going to do. Probably something foolish.” 

“No killing Shido.” Akira poked Goro on the arm. 

“I refuse to promise that.” Goro folded his arms tightly around his chest. 

“Goro, Shido isn’t worth ruining the rest of your life over.” Akira shook his head. 

“How about we pretend everything is going to go exactly to plan and we don’t discuss the what-if scenario of your death.” Goro cut in before Akira could work out more inspiring words to try guiding him toward a path of not revenge. Akira almost wanted to keep pressing on it since Goro had been the one to bring it up in the first place.

“Fine.” Akira let it go. The last thing they needed right now was to get into a fight right before this mission. “I can’t make you talk about that, but I think I’m fair game to make you come back to bed with me.” Akira stood to offer his hand to Goro. “Come on. You look like you need another ten hours.”

Goro glared at the offered hand for a minute before he let out a sigh and took it. Akira flashed a grin as he dragged Goro back into bed for about two hours before they had to get up for school. If Akira was asked he’d deny it, but he had about as much success sleeping as Goro after they went back to bed. It was just a lot of them resting rather than sleeping. When it was finally time to get up Akira felt even more exhausted than before.

“So,” Goro turned to Akira as he sat on the edge of his bed to look at his boyfriend,” you’re going to tell Sae-san everything, even about Makoto-chan and about us. Out of everyone involved in the department she’s the most reliable. However, she needs the absolute truth out of you for that to work. So, spare no one. It’s unfortunate but everything needs to be accounted for. If you can’t persuade her to our side…” Goro trailed off until Akira moved to him to give him a soft kiss.

“You’re stressing out again. If you keep this up you’re going to go gray before you’re twenty.” Akira ran his hands through Goro’s hair before resting their foreheads together. “Everything is going to be fine. Do you want to try grabbing breakfast before we hit the train?” Akira turned away from Goro to check himself in the mirror in a pointless attempt to tame his hair.

“I need to tell you something...” Goro trailed off until Akira turned back to look at him. “Last night I was told to kill the guard outside the interrogation room as well.” Well, that complicated things a little.

“Shit,” Akira dragged a hand through his hair, “maybe you can scare him off?” 

“That’s my plan.” Goro sighed. “I just hope I can be imposing enough that he doesn’t run to the SIU director asking questions.” 

“I think you can be. Whenever you get mad you’re pretty scary.” Akira teased a little before he moved back to Goro to give him another kiss. “Now, we have to get going or we won’t be able to get anything to eat before school and I hate listening to lectures on an empty stomach.” 

“You’re too easy going about this… But okay.” Goro held Akira’s hand for a moment and when Akira turned to leave his side Goro squeezed it tighter. “Sorry.” He gave Akira’s hand one more quick squeeze then forced himself to let go. “You’re right. I’ve been worrying about this for almost a month and now it’s here.” 

“We’ve got this,” Akira reassured Goro, “and once we’re done with Sae-san we’re going to take out Shido.” 

“Right,” Goro took in a deep breath to steady himself, “we’ve got this.” 

_______________________________________________________________

Almost immediately when Akira walked into the school building he heard his name being called. He turned to look at Maruki waving him down. “I was hoping I would catch you. I’m glad we’ll get one last time to talk before the end.” Maruki nodded. 

“Last time?” Akira looked confused. 

“My time here as Shujin therapist is coming to an end today.” Maruki explained, “I’ve had a number of students already come by to give me treats or cry. I didn’t think I was so well liked.” 

“Well, you are what we teens call a ‘hottie’ so I can see why some would be upset.” Akira joked, making Maruki both look uncomfortable and flattered at the same time. “But you’re also a super important and helpful adult. Which is fantastic given how 'helpful' some of the other teachers in this school are. I've always liked you best. Don’t tell Kawakami I said that.”

“I promise not to.” Maruki laughed. “Thank you Kurusu-kun. I have to do a farewell speech at the morning assembly today,” Maruki chuckled nervously as he touched the back of his head, “but I have something I would like to speak with you about in private if you don’t mind having lunch with me?” 

“Of course.” Akira agreed. “Better be good!” 

“You bet.” Maruki flashed a smile before turning to walk away. 

Maruki’s farewell speech was just as memorable as his first with him smacking his head on the microphone again. However, some of his words resonated with Akira as the plan to fake his death loomed ever closer. Those words were, “if your situation ever becomes too painful to endure, remember: it’s okay for you to escape your problem. I don’t want a single one of you to think that an unfair reality you’ve been forced into is the only one that you have to live in.” Akira watched as Maruki tried to reword what he had said but Akira got it. He understood what he meant.

Goro had tried to suggest this idea to Akira weeks ago. Goro wanted them to run away from this and not come back. Unfortunately things weren’t that easy and Akira had dismissed it, but now that it was getting closer Akira kind of wished he’d agreed. Why was he so good at saying he was fine with facing his possible death, but then days or hours before the deed he started to get cold feet? He really was the worst leader.

“Your existence in this world is an amazing miracle! You deserve to spend your days in happiness.” Maruki said and it started to set off a plan in Akira’s head. 

Deserving happiness.

If Goro turned himself in as a witness against Shido then Akira would never be able to hold his hand again. However, if Akira were to, he might be able to get out. Akira never murdered anyone, and while there might be something they try to pin on him, Akira felt like he’d have a better shot at a second probation or parole if possible. Whatever the changes, Akira had to try. He had a better shot at being able to go home to his wonderful found family and his boyfriend. 

This thought renewed Akira’s conviction to go through with the heist with no changes. He was going to get through this and then get to Shido. He was going to save Goro and they’d be together after.

He would gamble his life on it.

_____________________________________________________

Akira went to Maruki’s office at lunch to head in for his meal and special goodbye. He honestly felt pretty cared about to get this kind of treatment. Akira was only a tiny bit disappointed and if asked he’d deny that he had at least once thought Maruki was bangable. However, he was now in a committed relationship, and Maruki was the kind of respectable adult to tell him ‘no’ if he suggested it. That would have to stay in his dreams.

Once Akira made his way into the nurse’s office Maruki surprised Akira with a deluxe tempura bowl from some shop he’d seen a few times. The smell alone was amazing and Akira was seconds away from just shoving his face into the bowl. 

“I know where to take my boyfriend tonight.” Akira could not stop himself from saying as he all but drooled over the meal. He couldn’t see past the delicious fog but it smelled so good.

“Haha, it’s a little expensive but if you’re going to treat yourself it’ll be nice to get a chance to try it out right?” Maruki laughed before they dug in. 

Once they finished Akira swore to himself that he was absolutely going to take Goro to this place to eat. That was amazing food. The question became did he treat it as a last meal splurge or an after mission celebration? Shit. Maybe he should do both. Both sounded good.

“Now that we finished our food let’s get down to business.” Maruki dragged Akira out of his circle of thoughts. “First off: I have amazing news! My paper is done.” Maruki motioned to the binder of papers nearby on the table. 

“Well hey, congrats!” Akira clapped for him a little. 

“I wouldn’t have gotten this far without your insight.” Maruki looked back at Akira, “So I really have to thank you for this.” 

“I just sat there and listened, and sometimes talked about my own shit.” Akira shrugged. “If it weren’t for your help I think I might have lost it at some point. So the fact I helped with your paper is pretty good return payment I think.” 

“You don’t have to think of our relationship as purely give and take Kurusu-kun. All I’ve ever wanted to do is help you.” Maruki shook his head. “So please let me express my gratitude to you one more as the most helpful student of Shujin, and as a Phantom Thief.” 

“Fuck,” Akira put his head into his hands,” not again…” 

“No need to get upset with yourself.” Maruki laughed it off. “Look at the title of my paper.” 

Akira glanced up from his hands before turning to read. “Interpreting reality through cognitive psience and the alteration of reality via external influence.” Akira read out loud. “Your title might be, uh, long? I.R.T.C.P.T.A.R.E.I…. is also long...” 

“It is I know.” Maruki laughed. “But you know, the Phantom Thieves’ act of changing hearts is rather reminiscent of cognitive psience practice.” Akira knew that, it was hard to miss that with Futaba’s mother hanging over their heads. “And I would guess that you already know that you infiltrate a “reality” that exists solely for their target. It’s a reality wholly separated from the world as a whole. By using that world, you gain means of permanently altering their cognition.” 

“Y-yeah?” Akira nodded, feeling a bit uneasy. It was so easy to mess up and really hurt someone. It was so easy to kill people if they pushed too hard. He didn’t want the reminder right before this mission.

“You don’t have to stress,” Maruki insisted, “this is just what I hypothesize in my paper.”

“You-uh- really know your stuff.” Akira played with his bangs.

“Well, I did pour my heart and soul into this for years. I only stopped when, well, everything was taken away.” Maruki settled back. “I had a partner I was working with for a long time. She and I would share data and hypotheses about what we thought cognitive worlds were like. We were going to open a research lab specifically for it.” Maruki suddenly looked very sad. “Suddenly she pulled away from me and guarded her research. I started to notice that my name vanished off of anything we had published online and I began to think that she was trying to steal all the glory of discovery for herself. If only it had been that.” Maruki sighed. 

“What happened?” Akira was starting to wonder who this woman was.

“She died suddenly. Suicide supposedly.” Maruki shook his head. “But then some time later I received a letter in the mail from her. When I read it, it was something she sent to me shortly before her accident. She warned me to stop pursuing cognitive psience. She said her life was probably in danger and to save mine she removed me from our research. If I sought out any of her work I would be next. If she wasn’t recently dead I would have thought it was a threat but it was a warning.” Maruki looked sad. “I dropped my research on a public level and shortly after I lost everything else.” Maruki looked at his hands. 

“What was her name? The researcher?” Akira had to ask. He already suspected he knew though. 

“Wakaba Ishiki.” Maruki answered. 

“Futaba’s mom…” Akira looked down at the table. 

“Futaba? The girl at the cafe?” Maruki questioned. 

“Yeah. Sojiro adopted her to keep her safe.” Akira nodded.

“I see.” Maruki hummed. “Well, I’m glad I got a chance to talk to her after all.” Maruki smiled softly. “I feel like I should tell you the truth of when I realized you were a Phantom Thief. I was on my way to the school to offer my services when I saw you coming out of an individual’s reality. I’m sorry I kept it from you for so long.” 

“Wait, seriously?” Akira questioned. 

“Yes.” Maruki nodded with a small smile. “After Kamoshida had his change of heart there wasn’t any doubt in my mind that you had done it with your friends. I knew if I wanted to finish my paper I needed your insight. I thought if I had your help I might be able to directly interact with an individual’s cognition so I can help address their pain and despair. With that kind of power I could even erase the most gruesome hanahaki garden.” Maruki explained motioning over Akira. “For obvious reasons this research of mine has never really been acknowledged in academia.” 

“It sounds like magical bullshit. I know.” Akira nodded. 

“Exactly.” Maruki ageed. “I’ve still pursued evidence that my hypothesis is correct and now you’re here, living, breathing proof. I do apologize for keeping this from you. I approached you and your friends because I thought that I might be able to complete my research with your help, and I did. Does that change your opinion of me?” 

“No…” Akira said slowly with a shake of his head. “I have to ask, are you going to rat us out?”

“Of course not. I know how to show my gratitude.” Maruki shook his head. “I’ll continue to support you in any way you need me to. I’ll never be able to repay you for what you’ve given me. If you don’t believe me, you can change my heart however you like.” 

“No, I’ll take your word for it.” Akira let out a sigh. “I’ve seemed to make a habit out of forming social _contracts_ with people then everyone ends up figuring me out in the end.” Akira pinched the bridge of his nose before looking back at Maruki. “Thank you.” 

“No, thank you. Because of you I know what I need to do. I’m going to stand up to our current reality and change it. I’ll use my research to make our world a better place. I promise.” Maruki looked very serious before smiling. “It just might come out a bit different than how the Phantom Thieves reform members of society.” Maruki teased. 

“Well, I look forward to that day.” Akira chuckled. 

“I’ll try to make the Phantom Thieves proud.” Maruki smiled wider. “You have a strong moral compass. You never lose sight of your definition of justice and you’ve used that to help many people. I’m more grateful than ever to have met a young man like yourself.” Maruki pushed up from his seat to walk around the table to offer his hand to Akira. “This won’t be the last time we see one another, but I still want to thank you, for everything.” Akira looked at the hand for a second before he got up to take it. 

He felt a strong connection with Maruki. It reminded him of so many other times he’d gotten closer to another person. He couldn’t help the smile that crept up his face before he turned the handshake into a hug. “Sorry. I just… really am going to miss you here. I’m a sucker for free snacks.” 

“I understand.” Maruki gave Akira a pat on the back as he returned the gesture. They held the embrace for a few seconds before separating, “I’m going to follow the path I believe in. I sincerely hope that one day that path will take me to a place where I’ll be able to aid you as well. Even if it’d just be considered meddling in your affairs.” At this the bell rang to signal the end of lunch., “Looks like we’re out of time. We’ll meet again.” 

“Yeah.” Akira agreed with a smile. “I might be in contact with you soon about something I need help with, like… tonight? If you don’t mind me texting?” 

“I’ll be looking forward to your message then.” Maruki nodded. 

“Thanks doc. Have a good afternoon.” Akira bowed before he left to head back to class.

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _1:46pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : question.  
**Akira** : how into that therapy are you tonight?  
**Goro** : What?  
**Akira** : Maruki said he’d talk tonight if I asked.  
**Goro** : … It… might be a good idea.  
**Goro** : Getting some of this mess sorted out before it gets even worse might make what we’re about to do a slight bit less stressful.  
**Akira** : Ok. Are you going to be over here tonight or should I come over?  
**Goro** : I don’t think either of us will sleep properly if we’re together.  
**Akira** : I sleep better with you tho.  
**Goro** : You just had to say that.  
**Akira** : IT’S TRUE!  
**Akira** : I’m not just being sappy. I haven’t slept well solo since the hanahaki came out.  
**Goro** : Shit...  
**Goro** : Fine.  
**Goro** : I’ll go there. We won’t spend much time together there after tomorrow.  
**Akira** : Yeah. We can finish that coffee off.  
**Goro** : I’ll make breakfast.  
**Akira** : :O  
**Goro** : I’ve been… practicing.  
**Akira** : I look forward to you cooking breakfast. What time should I set up the chat with Maruki?  
**Goro** : Later tonight.  
**Akira** : Okay. Since you’re making breakfast what would you like for dinner?  
**Goro** : I suppose “you” is a given.  
**Akira** : I already made plans for that yeah.  
**Goro** : Hm. I think I’ll take the full Leblanc experience and request your curry.  
**Akira** : Got it. I’ll see you after school.  
**Akira** : 🖤  
**Goro** : 🤍  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

That afternoon the party met up at Leblanc as had become the new norm. They had used it a few times before heading into Mementos to make sure they were in top form but today they were going to use it to talk about sending the calling card. Goro decided to stay out of the Mementos missions because he didn’t want to cause too much strain in the party. They were still clearly weary of him and if they were collectively stronger than him maybe they’d feel safer. Or something. Akira thought it was bullshit either way.

So now they were all together to go over Sae’s palace. Akira was behind the counter, Sojiro had decided not to open the shop for the day since they had told him what they were planning. He had faith in them, either that or he didn’t want to watch them really fuck up.

Akira poured drinks for everyone then leaned heavily against the counter as they spoke,” Alright, so we’ll have Makoto-chan hand her the calling card.” Goro confirmed after some discussion. “It’s the least risky way to draw attention to any of us.” 

“Right.” Makoto agreed. “I’ll just say it came in the mail, simple as that. I’ll be alright. This’ll be nothing compared to when we cloned her laptop harddrive.” 

“Yeah I remember that.” Futaba agreed. “I thought you were gunna cry when you gave me the USB after.” 

“I was not!” Makoto gave her a stern glare. 

“Alright, we’re going to leave this part to you then Makoto-chan. Thank you for agreeing to this.” Goro offered the best smile he could.

“We’ll meet in front of the courthouse at six.” Akira announced. “There won’t be as many people around to notice us going in.” 

“Right, got it.” Ann agreed. “Looks like an early dinner date with Shiho for good luck.” she rubbed her hands together nervously. 

“When will the police ambush arrive on scene?” Yusuke questioned Goro. 

“Eight-thirty.” Goro answered. “I based the timing for them on our past capers. Assuming we fight Sae-san’s shadow as we have had to do with all of our past ones we’ll end our fight with her around the hour and a half mark but I gave us more time depending on how much she might talk or if something unexpected happens.” 

“Good.” Akira nodded, “We’ve only got the one shot at this. If we mess up then…” Akira looked over the party. “If I end up dead in a cell I want you guys to properly team up and take out Shido.” Akira gripped the counter. “You don’t need me for everything. You’re strong without me. It’s more important that Shido goes down. Promise me that you can do that.” 

“Akira--” Yusuke started but cut himself off. After a look around at everyone he nodded. “Okay.” 

“Good. Shido might think you’re weak without me, but I want to prove him wrong.” Akira smiled. “Of course this is just making sure we know what to do just in case the worst happens. Ideally, everyone gets out alive and everything goes to plan.” 

“Right.” Ryuji agreed. “If he doesn’t make it,” Ryuji pointed at Goro, “you’re not getting involved in Shido’s shit. We’ll deal with it without you.” 

“That goes without saying.” Goro said but Akira wasn’t sure his words matched with what he really wanted to do. Akira was pretty sure Goro might just try to kill Shido in reality and end it there. “There would be no way to prove I was involved in his death or not.” Goro continued. “I don’t expect any of you to trust me right now. I just hope after tomorrow, I’ll have gained some back.”

“I have some doubts about that.” Ryuji mumbled.

“Stop.” Akira shot Ryuji a quick glare. He was not dealing with Ryuji running his mouth again like he did with Mona. “Right now we’re going to proceed like we’re all still one big great cohesive group that trusts one another. If you can’t function on that level you need to step back.” Akira looked around the room. “Seriously, I want everyone putting in the same effort. We cover one another’s backs, no questions asked.” 

“I’m with you, Joker.” Ann announced then pointed at Goro. “I’ve got your back Goro-kun.” 

“Thank you, Ann-chan.” Goro nodded to her.

“I might forgive you a little bit if Akira makes it home in one piece.” Futaba said as she adjusted her glasses, making everyone stare at her. “My mom was important to me, is _still_ important to me, but so is Akira and everyone else here. Without you guys I wouldn’t be here and I’ve been thinking about that a lot.” Futaba played with the cord of her jacket to avoid looking at people. “I’m not saying that you and I will ever be on _**good**_ terms again but… I wouldn’t get upset if Akira brought you along to any meetups or whatever after this. Like, it’s hard to explain. I don’t _hate_ you. I just don’t _like_ you.” 

“I think Futaba put it best.” Haru smiled. “You weren’t directly responsible for my father’s death, and I suspect he would have died one way or another if you hadn’t at least tried to remove him the way you did. However, it’s still somewhat difficult for me to wonder what would have happened if he had been alive before he was murdered. I’ll never know but I put my life in Akira-kun’s hands and he was kind enough to save it. So long as he trusts you, you have my support.” 

“I must echo Haru’s words here.” Yusuke spoke up staring at Goro. “My respect for you stems from Akira’s views of you. It’s no secret here that I care for him deeply and because of that I will do as he wishes. I will protect you with my life because that is what he would do.” 

“Yusuke…” Akira said, looking at him with respect. Akira worried that Yusuke would never be able to move on to find someone else but Akira hoped that he would. Yusuke really deserved the world.

“When I started as a Phantom Thief,” Makoto decided it was her turn now,” I wanted to prove myself to two people. My sister and you. You had said something to me before about how I was willing to just do as I was told. I thought by joining them I could change my life and I did. But I think you did as well that day. You might have started with the intention of using us to your own ends but I think the longer you spent around us, and around him,” Makoto motioned to Akira, “you grew to care more than you admit. Do you really think you could have pushed us hard enough to kill you?” 

“I… don’t know.” Goro admitted. “I was going to try. Honestly, I had thought maybe Sakamoto or Kitagawa would do it.” 

“Man, just because I don’t like ya doesn’t mean I wanna kill ya.” Ryuji leaned back in his seat. “You’ve been a self-righteous prick since we first met and I have not liked you, like, _ever_. But then I thought about stuff and how you’re still just a teen like us. You got pushed into going shitty work for an even shittier adult. I think I woulda been alright with you if you had just told us when you were ordered to kill him. You tried to get all clever about it when really we should have all just been working together. I can defo tell you that you are a grade A, **dumbass**. Man that felt good to say.” Ryuji laughed.

“I don’t really have a speech to follow up with that,” Morgana spoke from the chair he was perched on,” but I was there most of the time you two were together. When we started to suspect you I wanted it to be wrong because I could see how much you loved him even if he was paranoid about not believing it could happen.” Morgana scratched behind his ear. “I started to think you were getting blackmailed or something but I never expected what was actually going on. I still believed in you though, because I knew Akira would. So be grateful.”

“I am. Thank you.” Goro bowed his head. “I’ll do my best to live up to this expectation.” 

“Good. Now, I’m going home. I need to decompress.” Futaba motioned for Haru to let her get out of the booth. “Mona you wanna come with?” 

“Yeah, I think I’ll give these two the night alone.” Morgana jumped down from his chair to follow Futaba out.

One by one each of the Phantom Thieves left for the night until it was just Akira and Goro left. There was a comfortable silence between them while Akira began to cook dinner. “How was that impromptu feelings jam?” Akira asked. 

“I wasn’t expecting it.” Goro answered as he moved to sit at the bar to watch Akira work. “I was honestly ready to kind of fend for myself if it went badly.”

“I know you missed this but at some point everyone became your friend too. And not just because you’re my boyfriend. This was well before that was even a thought.” Akira pointed with his ladle before putting it back into the pot to stir. “Hell Futaba kinda saw you as a brother figure too, you know?” 

“I know.” Goro looked a bit upset with himself. “It made my deception a lot more difficult to do after a point. I’d already done a wondrous job of fucking up her life and now I was here about to ruin another part of it.” 

“You cuss more now…” Akira noted. 

“I tried my best not to in order to keep up the facade of a ‘Prince Detective’ or whatever shit they labeled for me.” Goro held his hands up to air quote. “Honestly after all of this is over I’m going to withdraw from the public space completely. Maybe pursue another line of work, though I guess that’s...” Goro trailed off and Akira could see why written on his face. They’d talked about how Goro would end up in prison after everything with Shido was over. Akira wanted to at least pretend there was a life for them together after this and he was trying to figure out the best way to make it happen.

“Just come to Inaba with me and rediscover yourself in the middle of the country where no one gives a shit about who you used to be.” Akira suggested before Goro’s expression grew thoughtful. “I thought I might try to cheer you up. You know, not think about the impending doom of prison.” 

“I realize that and I thank you. You might be onto something there if I manage to get out ever.” Goro touched his chin. “I’ve been living my life trying to gain public approval so I could feel wanted. I don’t need a flood of fans when just one will suffice.” Goro smiled at Akira as he rested his chin against his fist.

“Whoa now, I never said I was your _fan._ ” Akira put his hands up before laughing. “You got me. I’m a fan. Probably not number one but like… number 42,069 or something.” Akira did a so-so motion with his hand.

“You are…” Goro put his hands over his face. “You need to stop spending as much time with Futaba.” 

“Listen, Ann’s the one who got me into meme’s. Blame her before Futaba.” Akira explained looking at the timer he’d set. “You want to grind up that coffee? This is almost done.” 

“Is there enough for tomorrow morning too?” Goro questioned as he moved around the counter to start preparing.

“Yeah, I portioned it out.” Akira flashed a smile before he continued. “But, uh, you really want to try Inaba?” 

“If you’d have me.” Goro nodded. 

“Well, I guess I’ll set aside begging Sojiro to keep me and change tactics to asking Tatsumi-san to take us both in.” Akira joked. “He’s a pretty good dude. He’s probably say yes.” 

“I’d just need long enough to get a place of my own.” Goro began to grind the coffee. “You could… stay with me.” Even if this was all just a lot of ‘what if’ scenarios Akira liked it. It made him feel like they could just think of the future without it looking black and empty. It was more like a starry sky and Akira was a big fan of stars.

“Are you asking me to move in with you Detetive Goro Akechi-san?” Akira turned off the stove then inched over to Goro who had his back to Akira as he grinded the beans. He didn’t respond until Akira leaned up along his back and rested his chin on Goro’s shoulder. 

“If I don’t end up in prison. Yes.” Goro answered at last, turning his face away from Akira to try and hide the blush creeping up his face. Akira smiled as he took the grinder out of Goro’s hands then forced him to turn toward him, face red all over and eyes looking at anything not Akira. 

“I’d like to try that.” Akira answered, pulling Goro’s hands around his waist. “Getting to see you everyday sounds like a pretty good reward.”

“Fate would just have to change.” Goro laughed bitterly. “It’s nice to pretend but please don’t get your hopes up too high. If you want to stay in Tokyo it’s better to ask Boss now.” 

“I’m going to wait on it.” Akira touched his forehead to Goro’s. “We’ll figure something out.”

“You’re an idiot sometimes you know?” Goro sighed as he closed his eyes. “Never change.” 

“Didn’t plan to.” Akira mumbled before he gave Goro a sweet kiss. It was a silent promise that he was going to save Goro from life in prison. They had all fought so hard and Akira had nearly died for this man in front of him. He wasn’t going to lose him now. He was going to save Goro no matter what.

________________________________________________________________

Once dinner was done and the dishes put away Akira sat with Goro on his bed as they set up a chat with Maruki.

_** Therapy Hour ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _7:04pm:_ **Akira __**_has started a new chat group **}**_

**_{_ ** _7:05pm:_ **Akira __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**_{_ ** _7:05pm: **Goro Akechi** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _7:05pm: **Goro Akechi** has joined the thread **}**_

**Akira changed Goro’s name to Mysterious Boyfriend.**

**Akira has changed Akira’s name to Helpful Boyfriend.**

**Mysterious Boyfriend:** Accurate.  
**Helpful Boyfriend:** ty. i’ll give maruki a poke to see if he’s free now.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend:** I’ll be here.  


**_ TAKUTO MARUKI _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _7:07pm:_ **Akira __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira:** hey doc are you free?  
**Maruki** : Of course. How can I help you?  
**Akira** : remember how you said you’d be willing to give my bf a session if he wanted it?  
**Maruki** : I do.  
**Akira** : how do you feel about a text based session because he doesn’t quite want you to know who he is since he’s a pretty popular TV personality.  
**Maruki** : That’s fine. I’m interested in the fact that this person is a TV personality and a detective.  
**Akira** : let’s at least pretend you can’t put two and two together. pls.  
**Akira** : anyway. he also said he’d like me to be there.  
**Maruki** : Hm. That could interfere with him being as open with things as he would like.  
**Akira** : i really don’t think it’ll be a problem. he’s kind of a free thinker. and i’m also like, right in his lap.  
**Maruki** : Well, I can’t say no if that’s what he wishes.  
**Akira** : cool. last bit of info because i think it MIGHT come up, remember when i said he was going to “kill” me?  
**Maruki** : As if in a game, yes.  
**Akira** : let’s pretend that it’s not in a game and this is a heavily involved phantom thief thing with a complicated as hell plot that i could write a novel trying to explain.  
**Maruki** : So what you mean to tell me is that he was indeed going to kill you. No quotes about it.  
**Akira** : yes and no. it’s complicated.  
**Maruki** : I see.  
**Akira** : is that a problem?  
**Maruki** : Normally I would say yes, but as you said it’s a Phantom Thief related issue I’m willing to put that aside to just talk with him and see how this goes.  
**Akira** : ok. i’ll add you to the group.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** Therapy Hour ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _7:17pm: **Takuto Maruki** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _7:17pm: **Takuto Maruki** has joined the thread **}**_

**Maruki** : Hello.  
**Helpful Boyfriend:** hey. this is akira.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : I would be his boyfriend. I trust he explained I won’t be sharing my identity with you today?  
**Maruki** : He did.  
**Helpful Boyfriend** : sorry maruki but i removed nickname privileges from u so you can’t dig into his name. do you want a name assigned?  
**Maruki** : That won’t be necessary. Thank you, Kurusu-kun.  
**Helpful Boyfriend** : 👍 now i’ll just sit here and hug him.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : Alright, I suppose I’ll lead with that I am also a member of the Phantom Thieves.  
**Maruki** : Understood.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : My reasoning for wishing to speak has a small part to do with that.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : I’m not sure how much he’s told you about our relationship, or what I was supposed to do.  
**Maruki** : Hearing your point of view is important, so regardless of what he’s told me your words matter more.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : It’s going to sound upsetting so I apologize in advance.  
**Maruki** : You don’t have to apologize about anything.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : Until a few days ago I was ordered to kill him. In an effort not to, I planned to have him or one of our teammates kill me instead.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : I’ve been working with certain people to ensure a position of power for a person of interest. I can’t openly defy my orders or they’ll kill him anyway.  
**Maruki** : Hold on, you were ordered to kill him but if you don’t someone else will?  
**Mysterious Boyfriend:** Correct. Though they know I’ve been in contact with the Phantom Thieves they don’t know names so they said they would kill Akira as punishment if I were to step out of line. They just don’t know that he’s also the leader they want me to kill.  
**Maruki:** That is… complicated.  
**Helpful Boyfriend** : i told you so.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : It’s convoluted is what it is.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : I’ve pledged that I will not be hurting him, even gone so far as to establish a relationship with him.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : The other members of our group still doubt me some however.  
**Maruki** : It’s understandable that they would worry about his safety. I can also understand frustration at not being trusted with the life of someone you care for.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : I believe that is my problem.  
**Maruki** : I’m afraid at present there is not much you can do to have them trust you. Was there a specific plan you had to avoid this mess with murder?  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : There was. We’ve decided to carry on like nothing has changed in order to avoid suspicion.  
**Maruki** : Like nothing has changed?  
**Helpful Boyfriend** : we’re going to fake my death.  
**Maruki** : Oh. I’m glad you’ve told me before carrying it out...  
**Helpful Boyfriend** : sorry. it’s kind of need to know. the fewer people who know about it the more believable it is.  
**Maruki** : That’s true. Well, I would like to offer a better option to you but honestly all you can do at this juncture is follow whatever plan you had to fake his death and have it result as such; in him living.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : Right.  
**Maruki** : I get the sense you’re a smart person and didn’t need me to tell you this. Is there another reason you wanted to speak with me?  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : There is.  
**Maruki** : Do you feel comfortable speaking about it with Kurusu-kun here?  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : I do. He already knows all of this.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : I’m having an issue in regard to what to do with my father.  
**Maruki** : Is he against your relationship?  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : Of course. He’s the one who wants Akira dead.  
**Maruki** : He’s the person you’ve been working for?  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : Yes. He doesn’t know I’m his son though.  


Maruki: I see.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : He abandoned my mother after I was born. It was because of him that she died to her own hanahaki when I was young.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : My entire reason for living for the last eight years or so has just been to get my revenge.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : It’s difficult for me to accept that I have to let that go in favor of doing things the way the Phantom Thieves do.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : In that we don’t kill people. Or they never did.  
**Maruki** : But you have?  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : Accidentally? Once. On purpose? Twice.  
**Maruki** : I see. Where you blackmailed into committing these murders?  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : No...  
**Maruki** : Have you tried to speak with your father to tell him who you are?  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : No.  
**Maruki** : Why’s that?  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : Part of my plans involved making him feel at his highest before ripping it away from him to make him suffer as I have.  
**Maruki** : Oh.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : I was going to reveal myself as his bastard child and ruin his credibility and life then make him live with that shame for the rest of his life.  
**Maruki** : I can get the feeling you have a lot of contempt for your father.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : Correct.  
**Maruki** : Have you not considered trying to talk with him and form a proper relationship?  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : Absolutely not.  
**Maruki** : Because he abandoned your mother?  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : He also has ordered me to murder Akira and put others into comas or worse so he can take over the country to shape it in his vision.  
**Maruki** :  
**Helpful Boyfriend** : nothing involved with me is easy maruki.  
**Maruki** : I can see that.  
**Maruki** : Going to the police isn’t an option with him I’m guessing?  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : No. He owns most of them.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : It’s safer to force a change of heart on him and have him confess.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : It would put him in prison and take down his followers.  
**Maruki** : You said you’ve put people into comas?  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : I was rather young starting out on my political assassin job.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : Killing people made me uncomfortable in general so I came up with something less… lethal.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : It was the creative way to not have to murder people and there was always a chance for them to come back out of it.  
**Maruki** : So you didn’t want to hurt people?  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : What I want isn’t really the issue here. I hurt people, killed others, and caused a great deal of suffering, simple as that. When my father goes down I will too.  
**Helpful Boyfriend** : 😟  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : You already knew this.  
**Helpful Boyfriend** : I know.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : At any rate, my current problem with my father is if I follow along with the Thieves and issue a change of heart or if I step around them and just kill him.  
**Helpful Boyfriend** : I’m not surprised to see this…  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : I’d be upset with you if you didn’t at least consider it.  
**Maruki** : I can’t even begin to understand what you’ve been through or how you were hurt. However, if you truly wanted him to suffer then death would be too easy a way out for him. Forcing him to confess his crimes and go to prison would be far more painful.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : It wouldn’t be painful. A change of heart makes confession feel like bliss. It makes you content in the choice to become better. So changing his heart would only make him happy in the end because he wouldn’t know better to be upset.  
**Maruki** : I didn’t consider that.  
**Maruki** : I think for you, and for the Thieves in general, it would be pertinent to do what must be done to be safe. If forcing a change of heart on your father is the safest route to take then that should be priority. It might not grant you your desire for revenge, but you'll still have Akira. You’ll both be alive and be able to live full lives.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : As full as it can be after I too go to prison for my part in all this.  
**Maruki** : I can help somehow I’m sure.  
**Maruki** : I do have a suggestion, if changing his heart and making him confess will heal him, then perhaps impart on him the kind of pain you had to endure. The pain your mother had to endure.  
**Maruki** : I don’t want to encourage this kind of behaviour but Kurusu-kun helped me and since you saved his life… I’m suggesting that you make him regret not returning your mother’s feelings and for leaving you to grow up without parents.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : Maybe...  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : For now I think this is enough. It’s given me some things to think on.  
**Maruki** : Of course. Thank you for reaching out to me. I hope I’ve helped you.  
**Mysterious Boyfriend** : You might have.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

“So,” Akira leaned his head on Goro’s shoulder, “you want to try that?” 

“What?” 

“What Maruki said about making Shido regret what he did to you.” Akira questioned.

“Maybe…” Goro stared at his phone rereading Maruki’s suggestion. “It would be one way to feel like I’ll at least get a little revenge for what he did.” 

“I’d help you do it.” Akira rubbed Goro’s back. “I’d distract the others or I’d just tell them to shut up. It’s important to you. You said it right there, you’ve lived for years wanting that revenge. I can’t imagine how damaging it would be to just… let Shido sit happy in prison.”

“You don’t have to enable me you know?” Goro smirked. “Thank you. I might take you up on that.” 

“We have time before that.” Akira stretched his arms up over his head before flopping back into his bed. “So, why don’t you come down here and we can end the night on a sweet note?” 

“Sweet?” Goro shook his head with an unconvinced look at Akira. 

“Okay, sexy note.” 

“I suppose I can do that.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiiiii everyone! welcome to the end of another chapter. we're going to be getting into the end game here soon and i hope you're excited because i ammmmm. speaking of excitement I have FAN ART???????????? a lovely person on twitter drew goro in his new outfit and i cried! please look at it and support this artist! [to look out this sassy pose click here!](https://twitter.com/NAMlKAZEMINATO/status/1296921695572328448)
> 
> ok my excitement aside i liked giving goro some much needed therapy. he might get more later depending on how this goes. (lmaoooo) but anyway, he got that out and feels better. now he just needs to get through this plan with his boyfriend getting arrested. 
> 
> i'm gunna go take a nap but my discord reminded me i promised to update today so here it is. if you're interested in joining us the link will be in the end-end notes. it is an 18+ server so please be mindful of that when you join. if you go in and start telling us you're not 18 or older you'll have to leave. anyway, thanks again for reading! PLEASE LOOK AT THE ART.
> 
> preview: _One by one the party let until it was just Akira and Goro left. “Gonna give me a good-bye kiss?” Akira teased._
> 
> _“No, I don’t think I will.” Goro shook his head. “Rather I’ll give you one after we get past this. I won’t allow myself to think of this as a good-bye.”_
> 
> _“So serious.” Akira stepped closer to Goro to take one of his hands. “I trust you.” Akira looked into his eyes. “No matter what happens from here I believe in you.” >/i>_


	29. handcuffs will never be a sexy thing again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sae's palace is finally at it's end and with it akira's impending planned arrest. after the interrogation goes wrong sae saves akira and joins their side. the pieces are in place for the party to move onto their real target, masayoshi shido.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we go team. wooooo.

_** STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _11:32pm:_ **name __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Pixar Mom** : Sorry for the wait and the late message. But I’ve delivered the calling card.  
**T & Tea**: Thank you Mako-chan, you think she’s taken it well?  
**Pixar Mom** : Yes. She was very agitated with it. I’m a little nervous about this.  
**banana_hammock** : just dont get so nervous you mess up tomorrow ok?  
**Pixar Mom** : I won’t.  
**tiny pizza table** : akira’s phone obviously survived the water ride and i installed the app.  
**tiny pizza table** : all that’s left is to trust akechi.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : Where are they anyway?  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : if i had to guess? probably spending a sappy romantic night together since they can’t really hang out after this.  
**T & Tea**: Makes sense. We’ll just have to let them be.  
**tiny pizza table** : mona says it’s time to go to bed. we can’t be sloppy tomorrow or mess up so get some good sleep!  
**Pixar Mom** : I agree.  
**T & Tea:** Good night everyone!  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : I’ll see you all tomorrow.  
**banana_hammock** : we got this!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The following morning the group met in the attic one more time. After a quick peptalk the party set off to Sae’s palace. Before they could actually get inside there was a pause for everyone to look at Goro’s new outfit. 

“So… you’re matching now huh?” Futaba motioned over Goro then Akira. 

“I didn’t realize we can change these outfits?” Ann patted down her own outfit. She’d been unhappy with it from day one.

“It’s less that I changed it and more that my second persona is hiding what it normally looks like.” Goro shook his head. 

“Can I get mine to do that?” Ann pouted. “I’d like something with a little less tit out. Like Haru’s. Haru’s is cute and functional.” 

“Thank you Ann-chan!” Haru grinned. 

“I have to agree with you Ann.” Makoto sighed as she looked over her own outfit. “Having a skintight outfit is…” Makoto sighed as she trailed off. 

“I like mine.” Futaba flashed a peace sign. 

“You still have on proper pants.” Ann frowned. “I would kill for something that didn’t have a zipper like this one.” Ann touched the middle zipper around her stomach with a frown. “Like, why does it go all the way around? Forget ever putting this on without Metaverse magic.” 

“Can we discuss this another time?” Goro requested. “We are on a time limit.” 

“Yeah, sorry.” Ann nodded before the party set off.

Once they entered the area where the treasure was supposed to be they found that it was missing. This wasn’t all that surprising to Akira, a number of the people they’d stolen from had taken a habit of hiding their palace treasures to try and stop them.

“Man, why couldn’t she just be like Kamoshida and just leave it alone?” Ryuji complained. 

“You know, you’re right, after Kamoshida every single ruler does something to hide their treasures.” Ann tapped the side of her chin,” It’s like they think it’ll help.” 

“Talk about it after.” Makoto cut in as Sae’s voice spoke over the intercom. 

“You came, just as I planned,” Sae said, “Allow me to compliment you. I never expected you would be able to make it so far with your… well.” Sae trailed off into a chuckle.

“Where’s the treasure Sae-san?!” Goro called before a roulette wheel in the back opened up a whole in the wall and Sae goaded them in. “Looks like a fight, as predicted.” 

“You ever think we’re going to get one that doesn’t fight us off?” Akira tried to ease the tension before leading the group up the stairs and up the elevator where Sae was waiting for them. She made her appearance on screen where she greeted them with a twisted smile. “Just give us the treasure Sae-san. We don’t want to fight you.” 

“You’re making a grave mistake if you think you have me cornered. I brought you to this place because it allows me to fight with my full power.” Sae explained her intention.

“Sis, why are you doing this?!” Makoto cried out earning a nasty glare from her sister. In a second Makoto’s stance softened and she looked very distressed. Akira could relate to that a little. If his brother had given him a look like that he wouldn’t know what to say or do about it.

“When my father died in the line of duty, I loathed his killer with everything in my being. But as time went on I started to resent my father instead.” Sae started to explain almost lazily. “He died uploading some lofty ideals of justice and left me to clean up his mess. I had to endure so many hardships, raise a child, and for what?! I don’t get anything out of it except sass and betrayal! I’ve had enough.” 

“Sis.” Makoto raised a hand over her mouth. “I… I...” 

“Everyone has things they don’t say out loud. It’s a subconscious thought that has no bearing on anything.” Goro tried to comfort Makoto with a hand just the side of her spiky shoulders. “This version of her is saying whatever she thinks will hurt you the most. Don’t let her get to you.” Goro’s words seemed to be just what Makoto needed to hear as she clenched her fists and looked up at her sister with resolve in her eyes.

“You seem to think you know who I am.” Sae sneered, clearly not pleased that Goro was figuring her out. “You think you have the right to tell me I’m right or wrong?! I’ll remind you that justice does not yield to evil. It’s a pity you shifted sides Akechi-kun. But _I will_ win no matter the cost!” 

“Sis please!” Makoto shouted. “This isn’t right and you know it! You have to sense the wrongdoing around you! Please!” 

“All you need to determine who is in the right is to battle.” Sae grinned as she reached a hand up to touch the brim of her hat. “Now, we’ll begin!” Sae raised her other hand to snap her fingers. All around them parts of the floor began to move relieving numbers on black and red backgrounds. 

“This is a roulette table?” Akira questioned as he scanned the area.

“A clash of brute strength is uncalled for on his stage.” Sae drew attention to her again as she appeared on the mat before them. “And you’ll play by my rules. Show me your determination!” Sae extended her arms out before there was a flash of something large and unnerving that took over her form. Her shadow was barely containing itself in her human form.

“W-what was that?” Makoto questioned with a hint of fear in her voice before Goro’s hand touched her shoulder again to try calming her. “Crow?”

“You’ll save her right?” Goro questioned.

“Right,” Makoto looked at Goro, “I will. Okay, let’s win this!” Makoto took out her weapons and readied to attack.

“Now, now, now, we can’t have this so unfair.” Sae snapped her fingers before the roulette wheel began to spin. “Let’s even the stage!” From the sky nine colored balls dropped into the wheel as it spun around. When the wheel came to a stop, Akira was able to see each of their masks on the balls as they stopped into different slots,” Those on red spraces will be allowed to play first! Lucky green will be able to play the whole time.” Sae motioned out around the wheel as four of the nine balls shuddered in place before shooting up into the air suddenly. 

“What’s that mea--?” Morgana questioned before the balls darted toward the party. Everyone scattered to avoid getting hit but before they could recover each ball turned on a dime to slam into Akira, Haru, Ryuji, and Morgana. However, instead of being sent flying the four of them were sucked into the balls. The surface of the balls turned translucent to allow everyone to look inside at the captives before they flew up into the air and out of reach to slowly circle above them. 

“Akira!” Goro yelled.

“Now let’s play shall we?” Sae laughed. 

“Guys!” Futaba shouted. Her marker had been the one to land on green so that was lucky for their navigation at least.

“Let them out Sae-san!” Goro shouted at her. 

“Only if you can call the pocket one of the balls will fall into. Guess correctly and you’ll gain back an ally.” Sae snapped her fingers again before Ryuji’s ball descended from it’s high up place to roll along the roulette wall. “Be warned any acts of violence will result in harsh punishment for those above.”

“I’M GUNNA BE SICK.” Ryuji shouted as he rolled.

“Crow make a call!” Ann called out to Goro. “Joker’s kind of busy!” 

Goro hadn’t been expecting to be asked to lead again, not that there was much choice at the moment. “I predict a red pocket!” Goro called out before Ryuji’s ball began to move away from the wall and into a pocket. Goro watched as Ryuji looked to be stopping in a red space only for a flash of something to stop him as he rolled sideways into a black space, “that’s…” 

“Oh my God, I’m gunna hurl.” Ryuji whined loudly as he slid down the side of the ball as it rocked into place.

“A loss,” Sae laughed, “I’ll take my winnings!” She announced before each of the current party on the field felt suddenly drained.

“Shit,” Goro hissed, shaking off the feeling, “Queen, head up by the plants around the outside of the wheel. When I make the next call I need you to shoot the pocket the ball heads into first.” 

“What?” Makoto questioned.

“There was something, and my bet is glass, that appeared over the pocket before Skull could stop. We need to catch her in the act of cheating.” Goro explained. “Please.” 

“Okay!” Makoto agreed before she backed out to run off.

“Let’s place another bet!” Sae announced this time calling down Akira’s ball. “Let’s play for money this time.” She said before the ball began to roll and Akira tried to brace himself against the walls so he wouldn’t get too dizzy. It wasn’t working though. All he could see were blurs in the shape of people outside and flashes of color from the roulette. He wasn’t sure he was going to be able to stand after this, nor was he sure he was going to stay conscious. 

After a few spins and a muffled call from Goro, Akira could feel the ball coming to a stop. Just as he could see the color of the pocket he was going to land in he saw the flash of the glass trying to cheat them but before he could roll into a side pocket a shot rang out and he fell securely into the right pocket. 

The ball Akira was stuck in suddenly popped like a bubble leaving him sitting in the middle of large pieces of shattered glass. He wasn’t sure his feet would actually stay under him if he got up so he just waited for the world to stop spinning and listened as Sae was called out for her cheating. 

Sae didn’t take well to being called out. Akira could hear as she grew into the strange shadow and everyone gasped at the sight of it. Akira dared to get up, gripping the side of the wall best he could to try getting to his feet and onto the green before the wheel could spin again. He peered over the wall to see the shadow had spotted before she started their ‘fight.’

“Joker, here!” Yusuke offered his hand to Akira to help him back up onto the green felt floor above before the spinning started again. Haru was next to come down, but the slots changed into other markers, this time elements and attack types Akira had become familiar with. 

“I’ll be okay, I’ll get Noir! Go help them fight.” Akira dismissed Yusuke as Sae attacked Makoto after she returned to the field. As the ball came to a stop Akira staggered to his feet to run toward it with his dagger drawn. Once Akira was close enough he jumped down to stab at the ball causing it to pop regardless of it not being the right slot so Haru came tumbling out into his arms. “You okay Noir?” 

“Yes, I’ll just need a moment to recover,” Haru nodded before Akira pushed her back up onto the field to sit out of the way of the wheel when it would start to turn again. As the fight against Sae went on Akira continued his quest to free the others of their spherical confines. Each of the ones he freed returned to fight by the others after a short recovery and soon they had Sae on the ropes. 

“Sis just stop!” Makoto shouted using another nuclear attack to finally knock Sae off of her feet and back into her human form. “I’m sorry sis. We had to!” Makoto knelt in front of her sister, “I--I don’t think it’s wrong to bring light to criminals that can’t be judged by the law. That’s what we’ve been trying to do as the Phantom Thieves!”

“Is that so?” Sae questioned thoughtfully.

“I was unsure at first as well, but I’ve been working with them for so long that I can now rightly say that though our techniques for exposing evil fall outside of the law, they are just.” Goro spoke up as he stepped closer as well. “I admire you Sae-san. The real you. The you that doesn’t twist the truth for your own personal gain or pursue aggressive investigations against innocent people.”

“Akechi-kun is right.” Makoto nodded. “Please think back to the feelings you had then you first wanted to become a prosecutor. Think of how you used to be!” 

“How I used to be…” Sae feel silent.

“Niijima-san is just like my father was.” Haru looked thoughtful. “What made them like this?” 

“It’s hard to say,” Goro folded his arms, “it was their own desires but they were twisted into such a distorted way… Shido and his people certainly pushed. The SIU director might be directly responsible for Sae-san.” 

“I wonder if there’s something we’ve been missing.” Akira touched his chin as he thought about what it could be. Sae might have had a reason for turning out like this but did everyone? How did their desires get this messed up?

“We’re running out of time. The ambush will start soon.” Goro announced. “Is everyone ready?” 

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Akira rolled his shoulder. “When will you make your move into the station?” 

“I’m to give Sae-san time in the real world to talk to you. I’ve convinced Shido that with the testimony you give her, the thread of the mental shutdowns will move away from him. Once she’s done I’ll be sent in.” Goro explained. “Everyone else needs to go back to their normal lives and just wait for news.”

“I’ll let everyone know when Joker comes back home.” Futaba adjusted her goggles before her screens began to pop up. “Looks like it’s time to split.” 

“Last chance to back out.” Ryuji teased.

“You know I can’t back down.” Akira offered a grin. “Alright team, let’s split up. I’ll see you on the other side.” Akira looked around to each of them. “Next time we meet up we’ll be planning our approach to Shido's palace.” 

“Right.” Yusuke agreed. He stared at Akira for a few seconds before he shook his head and turned away. “Let’s go.” 

One by one the party let until it was just Akira and Goro left. “Gonna give me a good-bye kiss?” Akira teased. 

“No, I don’t think I will.” Goro shook his head. “Rather I’ll give you one after we get past this. I won’t allow myself to think of this as a good-bye.” 

“So serious.” Akira stepped closer to Goro to take one of his hands. “I trust you.” Akira looked into his eyes. “No matter what happens from here I believe in you.” 

“If I were still going to kill you I would have thought you an idiot.” Goro shook his head with a sad smile. “Maybe I should still call you one.” 

“An idiot in love,” Akira raised Goro’s hand to kiss it. “I’ll be planning on how to steal your lips next time we meet.” 

“You really are rather suave when you have that mask on.” Goro laughed. “Good luck, Joker.” 

“See you later, Crow.” 

________________________________________________________

Akira was as flashy as he had ever been as he called attention to himself to draw the shadows to him on his way out of the palace. He probably did too well a job of it as most of his routes were cut off before he could get to them which forced him to run across lights he hadn’t even thought of trying before. 

Once he reached the end of the light path he encountered another shadow willing to fight him but before Akira could strike the first blow he heard a distant voice call to him before time slowed around him. Akira watched as right before his eyes Arsene appeared once more. “Been a while big buy.” 

“You’ve progressed well through your rehabilitation. Last spring when you awakened to this furious power I was sure you would grow in power and now seeing it, I must say I’m rather proud of the thief you’ve turned into. Not only have you stolen the desires of wicked hearts, you even stole a heart of love from a rival. Truly there is naught you cannot accomplish.” Arsene spoke and Akira couldn’t help the curl of his lips at his original persona’s words. “Now, use the power you have gained and defeat the enemies before you!” Arsene demanded before he merged into Akira’s mask once more.

It left Akira feeling stronger than before and all he could think was that, as his heart had grown stronger, Arsene had too, even if he hadn’t been around until now. Akira moved a hand up to his mask to adjust how it sat on his face before his free hand took his dagger out to flip it expertly in his hand. “It’s showtime.” 

Time began to move again at Akira’s words and before the shadow could even launch an attack Akira called forth his old friend to stagger the enemy before finishing it off with one swift strike. He was almost impressed with himself but he had to remember that he wasn’t fighting with a handicap anymore. The hanahaki was gone and now he was able to really bring his all.

Akira’s trip through his thoughts left him in a pinch as more shadows appeared to attack him. With the ease he’d learned from Kasumi, Akira back flipped out of danger then lept to the nearest space he could to gain the higher ground. “Gotta go.” Akira saluted then ran once again. 

With Futaba in his ear, Akira rushed through the back rooms to sneak his way toward the exit. Futaba warned him that there was something heading his way but if Akira was fast enough he was sure he wouldn’t have to worry about it. 

“Why are there so many shadows as well?” Makoto questioned over the coms. 

“I don’t know. This wasn’t supposed to happen.” Goro answered. “Perhaps this is Sae-san’s last ditch effort?” 

“Man we didn’t even take the treasure though!” Ryuji complained loudly. 

“We don’t know why this is happening, for now just keep going to the meet up.” Futaba ordered as Akira used his grappling hook to get high up out of the way of a few guards. However after getting to this upper zone to make his way through the room Futaba called for him to stop, “Multiple enemies right near you!” 

“Shit!” Akira cursed as he backed away just in time for three shadows to burst up from the floor, then four more behind him as well. “Oh well this is fine.” Akira reached up to touch his mask.

“Joker, you gotta find a way out of there. You can’t fight that many alone!” Futaba called for Akira to run but there was nowhere for him to go. This was bad. He wasn’t trying to actually die here. “Huh? That weird reading I got earlier is closing in on you too! Can anyone provide backup?!” 

“I’m on the way.” Yusuke answered but Akira looked down the room to spot a familiar person. 

“I’m alright guys.” Akira announced, watching as Kasumi unsheathed her weapon. “It’s a friend.” 

“What? Who?” Futaba questioned before Kasumi threw her weapon to imaple one of the shadows around Akira then began to unload with her shotgun. “Oh wow! Who is that? They’re crazy strong!”

“My weak self had relied on you so much,” Kasumi said as she crossed the space between them with graceful turns and flips to join Akira, “that ends today.” Kasumi reached the shadow she had thrown her weapon into to pull it free then pointed it to the remaining shadows. “Let’s do this senpai!” 

“Right!” Akira drew his own weapon to fight off the remaining shadows from the ambush. With Kasumi helping him, they were able to mow them down in no time. “Thanks for the cover Yoshizawa.” Akira smiled at her once the last shadow was gone. “How’d you get here?” 

“There’s no time to explain now is there?” Kasumi smiled sweetly behind her mask as Futaba announced more shadows on the way, “I’ll make it harder for them to track you down. Go now senpai. We can talk later!” 

“Yeah.” Akira agreed before touching her shoulder. “Don’t get caught in a corner.” 

“I won’t.” Kasumi bowed her head before she left.

“Well that was unexpected.” Akira told himself before he ran again. He could hear more shadows closing in behind him but they were pretty out of sight on the stairs. Once he got into the main lobby area it was time to make his exit. He ran along the banister to the upper floor toward the stained glass window to jump out of that. He hooked his grapple to part of the framing as he glided down from the upper floors in a shower of colored glass.

As soon as he safely landed Akira stood up to multiple floodlights turning on in front of the building to illuminate his form. “Here it goes.” 

“Give ‘em a show, Joker!” Futaba shouted and so Akira tried to escape once again. He could see the cops on the fire escape in front of him so that seemed the perfect place to go to still get caught but not just give up. 

Akira jumped for the ladder to climb up a few steps before he was met with a rifle butt to the face. It hurt but not as much as falling on a half dozen cops under him. Once he was on the ground they shoved him down to painfully twist his arm around to cuff him. As they snapped on the second cuff one man approached Akira to pick him up by his hair and talk to him. “You were sold out you know?” the man laughed before dropping Akira’s head again to let it smack against the ground.

It was time to try and win Sae over to their side, he couldn’t fuck this up. 

_________________________________________________________

The plan was rather forward, there wouldn’t be too many hitches. At least no one would have expected there to be any problems. It was too bad no one expected what happened to Akira next. 

There just had been no way to tell he was going to be drugged to hell and back then beaten within an inch of consciousness. By the time Sae finally appeared Akira was having a hard time remembering anything at all. He had struggled to sign his name on a forged confession and now he was supposed to do something. What was it? His leg hurt.

Once Sae sat down she was surprised to find Akira in the seat in front of her. Weren’t they going after him? Maybe she had just been handed a target and told to go after it? No wait, Akira could remember now. Shido had told Goro that if the leader of the Phantom Thieves didn’t die Akira would end up hurt instead. It tracked now that Akira was the one under suspicion if Shido was pushing names around. Bastard.

“I had suspicions but you were so close with Akechi-kun I didn’t…” Sae trailed off into a sigh as she looked around the room. She noted the water on the floor that had been used to wake him up then the needles left behind that had been the reason he first passed out at all. “Those bastards… Can you even understand me? I need you to tell me everything that’s happened and you have to be concise about it. I don’t have much time and I need to know the truth. I won’t be able to stop them from continuing this if you can’t be honest.” Sae motioned at the drugs.

“That’s why I’m here.” Akira mumbled, touching his head. He pulled lightly at his hair to cause a little controlled pain to keep his brain focused but it was much more painful than he expected. Those assholes had really roughed him up.

“Seems you’re coherent enough,” Sae noted,” Let’s take it from the top and you can tell me about your first target, Suguru Kamoshida.”

Akira looked across the table as Sae pulled out calling cards and photos of past criminals. Past palaces they had cleared in order to try and reform society. As they spoke, Akira's fuzzy recollection tried it’s best to explain why they did what they did. He told her about each person he’d come into contact with, and then he talked about his hanahaki. 

“So, you were suffering from hanahaki this whole time?” Sae turned over a paper. “There was a recent entry in your medical file that you had been admitted to the hospital for treatment of hanahaki expulsion. After looking up the details of ficus I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to do half of the acts you did.” 

“I had a good partner in leadership.” Akira nodded. “He took over when I couldn’t continue.” 

“The one you mentioned in Okumura’s palace.” Sae remembered. That was good. “And you claim that you had nothing to do with his death? Or the Shujin principal?” 

“That’s right.” Akira lowered his hand.

Sae stared at him, not at all looking convinced. She checked her watch once again before she leaned forward. “I’m going to read off a list of names we suspect of being your accomplices. If you can identify them positively we may be able to lessen your sentence.” Sae flipped her book to another page and began to read off everyone’s names. Though in her investigation it seemed like Sae left Goro out of everything. “Those are your accomplices and fellow Phantom Thieves, correct?” 

“No.” Akira shook his head.

“So you won’t tell them out, then let me change the question,” Sae sat back in her seat with her arms crossed, “you had the cooperation of people outside your group, did you not?” Sae asked again and Akira shook his head again. She was after his confidants this time, Iwai, Yoshida, Hifumi, Akira wasn’t going to sell any of them out. He wasn’t sure he had coaxed her to his side yet and he needed to protect everyone he could. 

“I see, you won’t speak a word about your teammates or your collaborators then? You have nerves of steel.” Sae said thoughtfully. She almost sounded like she respected him. “If you don’t give me something you will incur a death penalty. Do you understand that? You have no proof to offer in terms of your innocence.” 

“I know.” Akira nodded. Did he mess up? Goro was going to kill him.

“I want to discuss one other person-- Goro Akechi,” Sae mentioned and Akira’s attention was focused completely on her again. “There are _theories_ that he was acting alongside the Phantom Thieves. It wouldn’t be hard to believe considering how much time you spent together or the fact that he was the one to bring you into the hospital after your hanahaki came out. I understand the hanahaki was for him specifically was it not?” 

“It was.” Akira answered honestly. 

“So was he a part of your team?” Sae questioned. 

“Not the whole time…” Akira mumbled. 

“So he was at one point, or he is now?” Sae leaned closer again. She was fishing.

“I can’t tell you.” 

“You really going to sit there and not give me anything to bargain with? Your sense of justice is going to lead you to death, you know?” Sae tried to goad Akira again but he turned his gaze away. 

“It’s wrong to sell out teammates.” Akira said. 

Suddenly, Sae stood and slammed her hands on the table. His eyes snapped back to her as she started to lean across the table. “Don’t be ridiculous! You're the one who’s made the _wrong_ choices!”

“You really call this justice, Sae-san?” Akira questioned her. This seemed to catch her off guard a little before she demanded that he explain his definition of justice. “Saving others.” 

“ _Saving others_ , isn’t that what brought you to Tokyo to begin with?” Sae questioned hitting the same sore spot everyone liked to point to when it came to why Akira had gotten into this mess to start with.

“I guess so.” Akira hung his head a little, he was so tired, he just wanted to sleep again. “I guess you’ll just have to try your hardest.”

“Are you implying that we have no evidence on you?” Sae scoffed as she sat. “You’re not mistaken though. We have nothing, and your story sounds like a faerie tale! However, many people have fallen victim to this and we need to learn the truth!” Sae said firmly before all of the confidence bled from her expression. “Even if I don’t know what the truth is anymore… your story sounds ludicrous but if I take it as what it is… everything makes sense.”

“You still doubt me?” Akira had to ask. He was starting to feel a bit more clear in the head and starting to remember what he needed to do.

“After all of this you’re still cocky?” Sae shot him a glare. “I know the truth serum is starting to wear off. I won't be deceived by such poor acting.” Sae explained to him then looked at her watch. “I’m out of time. As interesting as your story is, I won’t be able to speak with you any longer.” 

“I thought you wanted to win, Sae-san?” Akira questioned.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sae thought on his words for a second. “You know… I had to call in my best favor to even get permission to conduct this interrogation. No matter the result I won’t be receiving credit for your arrest but I wanted to see how this ended.” Sae explained. 

“Did you plan for this kind of ending?” Akira asked the recollection of the plan coming back to him at last. 

“Plan?” Sae looked lost on those words but dismissed them. “There actually **is** one more thing I wanted to ask you,” Sae touched her hands to her chin,” I was recently removed from my post as the head of this investigation and was told to remain on standby. Shortly after that, I received word you were caught in the act and in some sort of strange phenomenon.” Sae lowered her hand again. “You were told someone sold you out, do you know who?” 

“I might.” It was time to lie a little. This was all part of the plan.

“Who?!” Sae gasped but when Akira paused trying to shake off more of the drug ridden haze she slammed her hands on the table. “There’s no time for you to waste! Tell me! I won’t let it end like this!”

“My phone,” Akira pointed toward it. 

“Huh? What about it?” Sae picked up Akira’s phone to look it over. “I’ve been told the lock on it is complicated. But we’ll get it cracked in no time, unless… do you plan to unlock it for me to show me what’s in here?” Sae motioned like she was going to pass it to Akira. 

“No, but there’s someone else you need to show it to.” Akira shook his head. “He’s someone who’s been manipulated into doing egregious crimes for the sake of someone else’s power. He’s unable to act on his own. His puppet strings are made of piano wire and his master is playing him masterfully.” Akira worded carefully. He didn’t want Goro being arrested on sight, he just needed Sae to put him into the Metaverse. 

He was remembering things clearly now, Goro said the camera in the interrogation room would be disabled so he would have cover thanks to Shido and the SIU director. The only images they would have would be him getting onto the elevator. Futaba had worked out how to hack the cameras to cover Akira’s escape after the fact and Goro knew when to come back out of the Metaverse to give Goro his alibi for Shido.

“Who?!” Sae demanded. 

“You’ll know when you see him.” Akira answered. “He was forced to play the part of the villain but he’s not. I _still_ trust him with my life, he saved me after all.” 

Sae looked confused before the realization came to her. “You mean… him don’t you?” Sae asked without using Goro’s name. 

“Please trust me,” Akira begged, “and him. Show him the phone.”

Sae let out a long sigh as she seemed to weigh her options before there was a knock at the door. “My time is up.” Sae stood again. “I’ll honor your request. I don’t know what it’ll accomplish but I’ve listened to you this far. Might as well play along until the end.” Sae picked up Akira’s phone after she put away the rest of her things. 

“Thank you, Sae-san.” Akira managed a half-hearted smile. He was so tired and worn down between the beatings, the drugs, and the interrogation it was a wonder he was able to still string together any sort of cohesive enough thought for Sae to listen to. As with many others before Akira suddenly felt a strong connection with Sae, like no matter what happened now, Sae would try to help him.

“I’ll be going now.” Sae pulled her purse up to her shoulder then left the room.

Then Akira was alone. Seconds felt like hours as he watched the door waiting for Goro to walk in or for someone else to. The stress ate away at the little energy he had left and when the door finally opened he could barely raise his head to look up at the person entering the room. Sae had returned and this time she looked determined to get him out.

“Did he take it?” Akira questioned but his words were slurred and sloppy. Sae said she couldn’t understand him as she pulled him onto her shoulder to drag him out and down the hall. Akira’s attention span was short but he was able to come up with one important fact. He was still alive and walking out of this building. 

Goro had honored what he said. Not that Akira had ever doubted him but there was always room for worry that something else would go wrong. Something else could still go wrong but as far as this moment left Akira concerned, they had won. 

The last thing Akira could remember hearing was Sae telling him not to fall asleep yet. She dragged him along the best she could but he was practically dead weight on her shoulder at this point. They weren’t safe, but everything caught up to Akira all at once and his legs were just lead. Just as he passed out, he felt another person help lift him but had no idea who.

________________________________________________________

The next time Akira woke up he was on his back again and in an unfamiliar bedroom. With a groan he sat up to look around, trying to figure out where he was. He’d had another Velvet Room dream to remind him of the things he forgot to bring up in his talk with Sae, but otherwise nothing that important came out of it. It was more important to figure out where he was? Was he safe? Were more people going to come after him?

Akira pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes as he fought back the desire for more sleep. It hurt, his face was still tender from getting beat and he felt like maybe both of his eyes were bruised and swollen. Those shit cops did not want him to leave a good looking corpse. 

When he thought of that he was reminded of his arms. Slowly he moved his hands down to look at the bandages covering the needle marks. He could see little blots of red under the white gauze and it made his stomach turn. Sure they suspected him of murder but this? He was still a minor lawfully speaking and they beat him then shot him full of drugs?

Akira’s heart began to beat faster as he wondered how much worse it would have been if he had been a year older. What would have happened if it had been anyone else? Would they have beaten Futaba like that? He was glad they never had to talk about someone else going through this. Akira barely managed it himself.

Actually, Akira was verging into a full blown panic attack now. He was shaking all over, his heart rate was going wild, he was freezing but sweating a tonne, and he felt sick all at once. He’d nearly died. Someone had been about to kill him. Maybe not Goro but someone else. That was terrifying.

In his panicking Akira failed to hear the door open, so when someone touched his shoulder to try and pull him out of his own head he lashed out with a shout. He scrambled back away from the person trying to touch him as he looked around for a way out. There was a window with the curtains drawn. He might get cut up jumping out but he could make it. The only problem was how high up they were. 

“Akira calm down!” The person shouted, grabbing his wrists. Akira closed his eyes tightly as he flailed again to try hitting the person holding him but his limbs were too weak between the beating and the drugs so he couldn’t get free at all. Unable to fight back properly Akira curled up the best he could to protect himself as the person spoke. “You’re safe!” the voice repeated over and over again until Akira finally relaxed and looked up to find Sojiro looking at him with worried eyes. “You’re okay.” 

Akira’s breathing took a few minutes to even out before he finally went lax enough that Sojiro let go of him. “Sorry.” Akira muttered, wiping tears from his eyes. God his face hurt.

“It’s fine.” Sojiro reached a careful hand out to touch his shoulder. “You’ve been through a lot. Takemi-sensei said you might be skittish for a while. Your injuries were pretty bad and to end with up those you would have had to...” Sojiro trailed off then sat on the edge of the bed. “That prosecutor, Niijima, brought you here. What do you remember?” 

“I remember… talking to her.” Akira touched his head. “The interrogation was...bad. Not from Sae-san’s side. The public security side though...” Akira shuddered.

“They’re the ones who beat you?” Sojiro questioned and Akira visibly bit down on his lip until he drew blood. “Hey, you don’t have to keep quiet.” Sojiro shook him by the shoulder carefully. “I’m not going to doubt you.” 

“I--” Akira looked back at Sojiro feeling another panic attack trying to claw its way out of him. Before it could get there Akira threw himself forward to hug Sojiro. “I knew we had to do it, but it was so much worse. I don’t regret it. I wouldn’t want anyone else to have had to do that but... _fuck_.” 

Sojiro returned Akira’s hug while rubbing comforting circles into his back. “You got through it. You’re alive. You might not be all in one piece but you can at least be glad you’re still breathing. I know I am.” 

“Y-yeah.” Akira nodded as he swallowed down a sob. After a few minutes he pulled away to wipe his face again. “Thanks.”

“You’re a tough kid,” Sojiro gave Akira a firm shoulder grip, “but you’re still a kid. Remember, if it gets to be too much for you, tell me.” 

“I appreciate that Boss, but… at this point the only way to go is forward.” Akira took a deep breath before he laughed bitterly. “If I’d known I was going to get that kind of treatment I think I would have jumped on that train Goro offered me weeks ago.”

“Train?” 

“He asked me to run away with him and leave it all behind.” Akira explained with a sad smile. “Kinda wish I had but can’t sit here and lament the past.” Akira brushed a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry I brought all of this to your doorstep. If it weren’t for me--” 

“Futaba might still be locked away in her room or worse. I don’t regret you coming here. It’s better that you did.” Sojiro stood up. “Now, the others are waiting for you at the cafe, feel like seeing them?” 

“Yeah.” Akira stood looking around for his clothes. He paused as he pulled his shirt on, it hurt to lift his hands over his head, his ribs were probably in bad shape,” Is Goro…?” He used the question as an excuse for his pausing as he pulled his shirt on at last.

“No, sorry. Niijima left your phone for you though. I plugged it in.” Sojiro moved toward the door. “It was buzzing like mad when Takemi-sensei was in here so there might be something from him there. I’ll wait downstairs until you’re ready.” 

“Okay.” Akira nodded, waiting until Sojiro was gone to sit back on the bed and look at his phone. There were a lot of messages from confidants begging for him to not be dead or laughing off the reports knowing he was too tenacious to actually die. Akira sent each a message that he was okay before paying special attention to the Thieves chat.

_** STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _4:11am: **Bob Ross is my Dad** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**tiny pizza table** : he’s okay!!!  
**tiny pizza table** : sae niijima brought him home. takemi is looking at him now.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : is he okay?  
**tiny pizza table** : he looks pretty rough. the cops beat the hell out of him.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : What?!  
**banana_hammock** : THOSE FUCKS  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : i feel sick.  
**Pixar Mom** : Does he need a hospital?  
**tiny pizza table** : even if he did we can’t take him to one.  
**tiny pizza table** : takemi-sensei said she can tend to his wounds and promised he’ll be okay.  
**tiny pizza table** : he just looks like a boxer used him for practice.  
**T & Tea**: Will he wake up tonight?  
**tiny pizza table** : idk. i think it’s best for everyone to get some sleep tho.  
**Pixar Mom** : Yes. I agree. It’s already very early into the morning.  
**T & Tea**: We all stayed up worried sick about him… I wish it was safe to see him now.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : Do we go by Leblanc tomorrow?  
**Pixar Mom** : I think so. It won’t be strange for us to go there I think.  
**Pixar Mom** : Also, Akechi-kun, thank you.  
**banana_hammock** : hes been offline a while  
**Pixar Mom** : Probably trying to deal with the fall out from Akira’s ‘suicide.’ I just hope he’s alright.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : We’ll check on Akira as soon as we can and let you know.  
**tiny pizza table** : you kept your promise akechi. thank you.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : get some rest goro-kun!  
**banana_hammock** : you still suck but thank for keepin your word  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ GORO AKECHI _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _9:54am: **Goro** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Goro** : I hope you’re resting.  
**Goro** : It’s been a long night but Shido doesn’t doubt my loyalties now.  
**Goro** : He even went as far as to praise me…  
**Goro** : It made me feel sick. For a long time it was something I thought I wanted and now that I got it…  
**Goro** : I hate him more than ever. It took a lot of effort not to shoot him myself and skip the shit with his palace you know?  
**Goro** : ...  
**Goro** : I may regret not getting one more kiss.  
**Goro** : I miss you.  
**Goro** : For the next few days things will be busy. They’re hailing me as the hero who arrested the leader of the Phantom Thieves. I hate it.  
**Goro** : When this is over I’m turning in my rights to call myself a detective.  
**Goro** : I’d do it now if Shido wouldn’t question it.  
**Goro** : When you wake up please message me. Even if I don’t respond I just want to know you’re okay.  
**Goro** : Futaba said you were but…  
**Goro** : Please. I need to hear it from you.  
**Goro** : I can’t bear someone else important to me dying out of sight.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _4:14pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : I’m okay.  
**Akira** : I love you.  
**Akira** : I miss you.  
**Akira** : Well, “okay” is an interesting way of putting it.  
**Akira** : But I’ll get there. I miss you.  
**Akira** : I’m about to go to Leblanc to meet with the others. I love you.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

His love sent to Goro, Akira finished getting dressed to meet with Sojiro then headed to Leblanc. As soon as he walked in he was swarmed by his friends. Everyone took turns asking how he was and actually touching him to test that he was really there. He couldn’t blame them, he was sure he would do the same if it were any of them instead.

Shortly after the pleasantries were exchanged it was time to sit down and explain to Sae exactly what happened. This was the part Akira was most nervous about. They would tell her about the plan to fake his death, and about Goro’s involvement on all levels including what he had done before. Akira clasped his hands together on the table as they went around talking about their brilliant plan until it came to Akira’s phone and Sae’s role. 

“We needed you to pull Goro into the Metaverse,” Akira cut in,” he’s been watched very closely and if he were to seemingly, _knowingly,_ go along with something that doesn’t benefit the people pulling at his strings, they’ll kill him and all of us, no questions asked.” 

“What do you mean _pulling at his strings_? You said the same thing in the interrogation room.” Sae questioned. 

“The culprit behind the mental shutdowns, breakdowns, and comas is him.” Akira answered carefully. Everyone’s eyes were on Sae now as she took in this information and Akira continued.. “For years he’s been working with someone to help them gain political power. For a long time he simply put people into comas or had them act out violently so they would go to jail. However, things started to change and he ended up killing Kobayakawa.” Akira rubbed his hands together. “After that he started to realize he was getting out of line. He was with us but he was drifting and, as teen romance-y as it sounds, he was falling in love with me.

He wanted to be able to make up for it somehow so when he was ordered to kill Haru’s father Goro tried to just put him into a coma as he had done before.” Akira was glad Sae was just letting him talk now so he could get the whole story out. “But the people behind him didn’t like it. They went around him and purposefully killed Okumura to make a statement. Then they ordered him to kill the leader of the Phantom Thieves,” Akira motioned at himself, “and if he didn’t do as he was told this time, they would kill the boy at the coffee shop he spent so much time with. Or, I guess they were going to have me arrested as the leader of the Phantom Thieves. Too bad they weren’t wrong.” Akira motioned at himself again. 

“That’s quite the conundrum.” Sae said simply. “So this entire incident with my palace and you faking your death was to remove you from the table as something to hang over his head?” 

“And as far as the puppeteers are concerned Akechi-kun is loyal to them. Hard to say he isn’t after he went out of his way to ‘kill’ Akira.” Makoto spoke up. “By the time they read the report on him being dead they would have to realize that Akira and the leader of the Phantom Thieves were the same person. Can they really question his loyalty after that?” 

“I suppose not,” Sae touched her chin, “it doesn’t change the fact that you told me Akechi-kun has killed people though.” 

“He killed my mom,” Futaba announced. “Accidentally, but it still happened. Buuuut, I also realize it was a long time ago. I may not forgive him, but Akira loves him and I love Akira. He also risked a lot to make sure Akira would get out safely.” 

“Yes, now that you’ve told me all that his actions in the precinct are even more interesting.” Sae sighed. What was she on about? “He helped me drag him to the taxi when Kurusu-kun passed out. I was having trouble carrying him and I was sure I was going to get caught.”

“I didn’t know that.” Haru looked surprised. 

“I don’t think any of us did.” Ann shook her head. “Is he really okay?” 

“He sent me some texts.” Akira said. “Told me he’s got trust again so… he’s okay. Probably.” Akira wanted to see him so bad.

“Well, we managed to accomplish our mission here. Now we have to just take out our next target.” Makoto looked to Sae. “Masayoshi Shido.” 

“Wait… he’s running for Prime Minister. Why him?” Sae asked. 

“He’s the one pulling at Akechi-kun’s strings. He’s the one who ordered people’s deaths or at least general removals. He’s behind all of it.” Makoto explained. “Okumura was funneling money to him to try and gain political traction and there’s no telling what other connections we might uncover.” 

“I see.” Sae nodded. “Okay. From here forward I will do everything I can to help you. I’ve already made sure no one will check for a body so there won’t be any knowledge he survived. This is the least I can do, you all did save me after all.” 

“That goes double for me.” Sojiro agreed. “When you guys need to meet, tell me and I’ll close the shop up, no questions.” 

“Thanks Boss.” Ann grinned. “Man I am super relieved now. I was so worried about you after the news about the suicide. We knew he was okay but it was still hard to get any sleep.” 

“I have to agree.” Yusuke looked down to Akira. “I knew you’d make it but my heart still felt the strain of thinking you had died.” 

“Sorry.” Akira offered a sheepish grin.

“So, your target is Masayoshi Shido,” Sojiro mused. “Back when Wakaba died I had a feeling he was behind it.” At this admission Futaba demanded to know why he kept this from them after they mentioned Shido before. “Because I know the guy. If I had said anything then you would have gone after him and you’d end up dead.” 

“As opposed to fake dead.” Akira frowned. “There’s no way I can stay ‘dead’ forever and Shido won’t want the rest of us around after he’s elected.”

“His last call with Goro had him boasting about how he was going to win and how he wanted the rest of us removed.” Futaba confirmed. “Goro threw him off saying it would be too suspicious if we all started to drop dead and to wait until after the election.” 

“Good thinkin’.” Ryuji nodded looking mildly impressed.

“Election day is on the 18th of December, so we have to change his heart by the 17th or we’re all in trouble.” Makoto looked thoughtful. “Akechi-kun gave us the keywords for his palace and requested that we only send him a text when we’re going to head in.” 

“When did he do that?” Akira asked. He hadn’t seen the keywords.

“He sent them to me privately. He didn’t want to risk waking you up.” Makoto explained with a smile. “Shido sees the Diet building as a ship.” 

“A ship?” Akira frowned. “How does that even translate you think?” 

“I don’t know but Akechi-kun mentioned to me that his palace is huge so we need as much time as we can get to cover it all.” Makoto explained. “Akira, once you feel well enough we should head in.” 

“How about tomorrow? I can heal better in the Metaverse.” Akira suggested. He didn’t want to wait.

“It might be a good idea.” Yusuke agreed. “The sooner we do this the less we’ll have to worry about them finding out that Akira is not, in fact, dead.” 

“Okay, we’ll meet in front of the diet building tomorrow after school.” Ann summed up their plans. 

“Man what are you going to do about school?” Ryuji looked to Akira. 

“Clearly I’m going to be a delinquent and not go.” Akira pushed his glasses up. Sae had remembered to grab them and he was thankful for it.

“I told the school he had to return home for a short while due to family reasons.” Sojiro explained. “Not sure how long they’ll buy that for though.” 

“Man, if only my family would have anything to do with me.” Akira joked before feeling a bit sad. He really almost died twice without being able to really make things right. Once this was over he was going to go home and he wouldn’t let his parents shut the door in his face. He would make them listen.

“Okay then, tomorrow we’ll start our most important mission yet. Get some rest everyone.” Makoto looked around the room. “Just a little longer.” 

“Right.” Akira agreed. He hoped Goro would be able to actually join them tomorrow, he really wanted to kiss his boyfriend again.

As talks came to a close and people began to head home Yusuke requested to stay the night which Akira accepted. He just didn’t want to be alone all that much. Having more people around made him feel comforted and helped him forget the beating he’d been through. 

Akira watched Yusuke shuffle around the room to try and get ready for bed when he started to kind of check out. His mind traveled back to the tiny room with the single light. He could hear the drip of water from his body hit the puddle below him and it sent a shiver up his spin. Yusuke was laying out the futon when he paused to look at Akira. He frowned before he approached Akira to touch his shoulder and coax him out of his memories carefully.

“Yusuke,” Akira said his name as he looked up at Yusuke, his eyes focusing on his face, “I…I’m sorry. I’ll be alright. I just… need a minute.” Akira reached a hand up to clear his tears. 

“You don’t have to apologize.” Yusuke shook his head before sitting next to him. “You went through a traumatic experience. I can’t imagine what that must have been like.” 

“Pretty horrific.” Akira chuckled bitterly.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Morgana asked from Akira’s other side. 

“Not really.” Akira shook his head. “I’ll, uh, probably ask an actual therapist. It’s a lot to put on someone.” 

“I’d listen anyway.” Yusuke encouraged Akira. 

“Please don’t.” Akira requested. “I’m having a hell of a time trying to hold myself together and I don’t know what I’ll do if I fall apart now.”

“Change of subject then. Futaba said there was another person in the palace who helped you escape. Who was it?” Morgana asked. 

“Oh right, I never told anyone about Yoshizawa's awakening.” Akira said as he realized that he’d meant to at least tell Morgana but it slipped his mind with Okumura then everything else.

“YOSHIZAWA?!” Morgana shouted. 

“Yeah, I ran into her shortly before Okumura’s battle. There was this weird palace we ended up in and she awoke to her persona.” Akira explained. “She showed up at Sae-san’s palace to help me get away. I still don’t know how she even got in there.” 

“Well, it’s good she showed up when she did.” Yusuke said, patting Akira’s shoulder before he stood up. “You’re hoping Akechi will be there tomorrow?” 

“I am.” Akira nodded as he gathered up his feet to crawl into his bed. “I haven’t been able to speak with him yet.” 

“You will. For now get some sleep.” Yusuke moved back to him to help move Akira’s blankets over him to cover him up. “You’ve had a long few days.” 

“You’re sweet Yusuke,” Akira pulled his pillow closer to his face before remembering to take off his glasses and put them aside. “We really got to get you someone. Are you strictly gay or…?” 

“I believe the term I identify most strongly with is pansexual.” Yusuke explained. “I find I tend to look past the form of a person and focus more closely on how they make me feel.” 

“Isn’t that how you look at art?” Akira asked with a smile. 

“I believe so.” Yusuke agreed with a smile before he got under his blankets. “Please don’t worry about finding me a significant other. I realize you say that because you think your relationship with Akechi is painful for me but I’m content in the knowledge you’re happy.” 

“Yusuke, I don’t deserve you.” Akira smiled again before his phone began to ring. “Shit.” He started to struggle to get up but his body was still in a world of hurt. He was glad they were going to go to the Metaverse tomorrow, he could get some good healing in.

“I got it.” Yusuke got up again to pass Akira his phone as he sat up. “I’m going to use the bathroom first actually.” Yusuke smiled before he left Akira alone to answer his call. 

Akira looked at the ID catching sight of Goro’s name before he answered. “Hey, babe.” Akira greeted. 

“You’re really okay,” Goro’s voice spoke over the phone,” I know you messaged me but I was still worried. I--” 

“I get it.” Akira cut in. “It’s good to hear your voice.” 

“Yours too.” Goro let out a sigh. “How was today? Was talking that much painful?” 

“A little. But we talked to Sae-san about everything. She’s on our side.” Akira answered. 

“Everything?” 

“Yeah… I’m sure she’ll want to talk to you herself about stuff involving Futaba’s mom and Kobayakawa.” Akira picked at his blanket. “I explained things the best I could.” 

“I understand.” Goro said. “She’s probably trying to figure out how many charges to put on me.” 

“No. When we explained Shido using you she looked pretty thoughtful.” Akira shook his head. “I think she’ll help the best she can. Maybe we’ll get lucky and you’ll get some kind of immunity?” 

“Unlikely.” Goro didn’t sound convinced. “Murder isn’t something that can be dismissed so easily.” 

“Even if it was because someone ordered you?” Akira pouted. 

“I can hear you pouting,” Goro said, “even if it was because someone ordered me there’s no way I’ll get off completely. That’s just how it is. You promised me you’d be okay with this.” 

“I didn’t _promise_ per se.” Akira rolled a hand. 

“Akira.”

“I’m not going to promise to stop looking for ways to help you.” Akira laid down once again. “I know you hurt people, I know you killed people, but in my fucked up head and heart I decided I still love you anyway. So I want to fight for you. I want to protect you.”

“I don’t need to be protected.” Goro said sharply. 

“Bullshit. You’re not as strong as you think Goro.” Akira shook his head. “And neither am I, but you know what we are? Stronger together. You need me as much as I need you and I’m not going to lose you to anything, not even real world prison.”

There was a long silence from Goro as he stewed on what Akira told him before he finally spoke again, “I won’t try to stop you then.” 

“Is that all?” Akira almost laughed. 

“I don’t know what else you expect me to say.” Goro sounded a bit indignant.

“Honestly? Nothing.” Akira answered. “I guess just getting your blessing to be a little shit about you going to prison is nice.” 

“Ha.” 

“Yusuke’s here by the way.” Akira decided he should be transparent as Yusuke had yet to return and Akira was sure he was just trying to give him some privacy. Goro’s answer to hearing of Yusuke was to let out a long hum of what Akira guessed was disapproval. “He’s on the floor, I’m in my bed. Relax.” 

“I am relaxed.” Goro said flatly and Akira knew that he wasn’t. 

“We’re going into Shido’s palace tomorrow.” Akira decided to change the topic. “Will you be there?” 

“When?” 

“After school.” 

“You’re--” 

“I’m not going to school,” Akira cut in, “so don’t stress out. I’m pretty much stuck right here in Leblanc.” 

“Well,” Goro trailed off, “what if after tomorrow you get stuck in my apartment instead?” 

“Oh?” Akira raised an eyebrow. 

“Maybe for a few days?” Goro suggested and Akira was already sold.

“You know, I like waking up to you any day.” Akira smiled. “So you’ll be at the palace tomorrow?” 

“I’ll head in as soon as I can.” Goro promised. “And if you don’t bring extra clothes that’s alright.” 

“Because I won’t need any or?” Akira smirked. 

“Because you’ll fit in mine. Is sex really all you think about?” 

“No! I think about other stuff. Like binge watching a show together or making dinner for you while you make us breakfast, or other domestic shit that I’m desperately wanting and I never thought I would. Fuck, I love you.” 

“I love you as well.” Goro returned the sentiment. “I’ll give you that kiss I promised you tomorrow.” 

“You better.” Akira yawned. 

“You should sleep.” Goro said affectionately.

“So I can see you sooner?” 

“You remembered.”

“Mind like a steel trap for dumb stuff. Remember your pancakes?” 

Goro laughed at the reminder before the two of them got lost talking about little things instead of actually going to sleep. At least until Akira ended up drifting off listening to Goro explain something about how his briefcase was his personal design and meant to take a beating without getting a dent. God he was a nerd and Akira loved him so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [I GOT MORE FAN ART. LOOK AT IT.](https://twitter.com/NAMlKAZEMINATO/status/1297384547726905345)
> 
> hi guys. soooo. i don't have a lot of words to say so i'm gunna like, drop this here, answer questions in comments or discord and be on my way. thanks for reading!!
> 
> preview: _“I’m so not looking forward to this. Why can’t you do it?” Ann asked Akira._
> 
> _“I would be down for it, but the dude gives off those vibes of stereotypical hetero.” Akira shoved his hands into his pockets. “Like, I’m sure he’d attack me if I tried to flirt. I don’t have the tits for this job sadly. Also I think Crow would object.”_
> 
> _“I would.” Goro answered with a smile._


	30. the hardships you endured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akira gets some much needed therapy from maruki before he and the team head into shido's palace. once inside they find that they have to get letters of introduction to even see shido's shadow self. the first few are easy to come by but the shadow of something worrying goro gives akira reason to worry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> goooooood morning! er, afternoon. oops. :D

_** TAKUTO MARUKI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _12:25pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : not dead.  
**Maruki** : I was worried.  
**Akira** : yeah. i figured i should lead with the part about not being dead.  
**Akira** : it wasn’t for a lack of trying on their part though.  
**Maruki** : Are you alright?  
**Akira** : mentally? probably not. physically? also no.  
**Maruki** : Do you want to talk?  
**Akira** : ...yeah. let’s settle for texting though.  
**Akira** : i’m pretending i’m dead after all.  
**Maruki** : I understand. Let’s start with what happened?  
**Akira** : well. i got arrested and taken to an underground interrogation room.  
**Akira** : which if not for the circumstances would have maybe been cool at the time?  
**Akira** : like what guy doesn’t dig underground bunker shit right?  
**Akira** : but then came the drugs.  
**Maruki** : Drugs?  
**Akira** : one of the interrogators called it a ‘truth serum’ but i have no idea.  
**Akira** : it made everything fuzzy.  
**Akira** : at least until they started to beat the shit out of me when i didn’t tell them anything which was hard because everything was fuzzy.  
**Akira** : i wonder how close i was to an overdose…  
**Maruki** : So if I’m reading this right, you were drugged and beaten by the police?  
**Akira** : yeah...  
**Maruki** : You’re safe now?  
**Akira** : yes.  
**Maruki** : Where are you? Leblanc?  
**Akira** : yes…? why?  
**Maruki** : This would be better in person given the topic.  
**Akira** : it’d be weird if you came here.  
**Maruki** : I visited before when you were away in Hawaii. I’d just be visiting for some coffee if anyone asks. I promise.  
**Akira** : …. fine.  
**Maruki** : I’ll be by soon. Just wait for me.  
**Akira** : okay.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira waited in his room for Maruki to arrive. An hour passed before there was a knock near the stairs. Akira sat up from rolling around on his bed to get up and peek over at Maruki holding a bag of some kind. Sojiro was trying to tell him that Akira wasn’t around but Akira came down the stairs a bit to talk. “It’s okay Sojiro. I wanted to talk to him.”

“You’ve got some balls having him come here.” Sojiro frowned. 

“I’m the one who insisted on coming here, I’m sorry.” Maruki apologized.

“Well, I’ll close the shop up so you can talk freely. Take a long lunch.” Sojiro sighed before he put on coffee for Maruki and Akira. “I’ll let you finish this off. I’ll be back.” Sojiro put on his hat after he removed his apron and took off.

“Well,” Maruki looked at Akira, “how about we talk?” 

“Sure,” Akira came down the rest of the stairs to stand behind the counter to pour the coffee when it was time, “so, I told you what happened.” 

“Tell me in a bit more detail, if you feel like you can.” Maruki requested. 

“I don’t know that you want to really hear that…” Akira trailed off but Maruki didn’t back down so Akira gave in and began to explain. He told Maruki about the injections and how the police wouldn’t let him sleep. Then explained how he had the shit kicked out of him before being forced to sign a confession he didn’t write.

“So not only did they torture you, they forced you to sign a confession for crimes you did not commit?” Maruki summed up. 

“Yeah.” Akira reached up to play with his bangs. “Needless to say I don’t see myself trusting the cops again. The only one I’ll give a pass to is my boyfriend, not that he’s a cop.” 

“I understand,” Maruki nodded. “How are you feeling now?” 

“Pissed?” Akira shrugged and let that hang in the air as he poured himself more coffee to buy himself a minute to think before he said, “scared.”

“You’ve been through a traumatic situation. It’s no surprise that you’re feeling fearful. I would go so far as to think you’ll have episodes of panic or PTSD going forward. It may fade some over time or it might never.” 

“Yeah, I kind of freaked out yesterday already.” Akira played with his bangs again. “Will it get worse?” 

“It’s possible. You’ll have to be careful about things that might trigger further attacks. There’s no way for me to tell you what it might be, but I can recommend you see a doctor for anxiety medication.” Maruki gave Akira a pitied look. 

“Cool, finally kicked the hanahaki meds and I need something else.” Akira dragged a hand through his hair. “I knew I was putting myself in a ton of danger by doing what I did. But it needed to be done. I couldn’t avoid it.” 

“I know. You’re braver than someone your age should have to be.” Maruki turned the coffee cup in his hands a few times. “Do you wish it hadn’t happened?” Akira looked up at Maruki at this question. Sure it would have been nice to avoid altogether but since it happened the team would be able to go after Shido. “Let me rephrase, if you would redo this year so far, would you wish that you could enjoy it without all the hardships?” 

Akira looked thoughtful at that and tipped his head to the side. “Well,” Akira humed, “I’m going to say no. Not because I crave pain or anything twisted like that. With the pain I went through I managed to save so many others. The people important to me would have been a lot worse off if I didn’t go through half the shit I did. Hell even just people I ended up talking to on a whim I’ve helped. I guess I’ve got more charisma than I thought I did.” 

“You really wouldn’t change a thing?” Maruki questioned again and Akira was starting to feel baited. 

“I know you want to help me sensei, but I’m alright like this. I might be damaged but I’ve got everything I need.” Akira began to think of everyone before he came to Goro. “Well, I guess… I’d wish that no one had died so my boyfriend wouldn’t get yanked away from me.” Akira frowned. “We finally got together and now…” 

“I see.” Maruki nodded. “It’s good to have desires. Not all desires are bad, and with them we can aim for futures we’d like to have. So while you’re content with your past, you can cling to an ideal future to form the treasure for your cognitive palace.” 

“Poor wording to a Phantom Thief,” Akira had to laugh, “it’s kind of my job to steal those kinds of treasures.” 

“I worded it that way intentionally.” Maruki shared Akira’s laugh. “I’m sure there’s been treasure you’ve left alone before, right?” Akira thought back to the random palace in Odaiba before he nodded. “Then that’s proof enough that the Phantom Thieves don’t need to steal every distorted desire.” 

“I guess.” Akira folded his arms. “Right now we’re working on a very twisted heart.”

“May I ask who?” 

“Ehhh, probably better I don’t say, but, uh, maybe be careful about who you vote for in the upcoming election?” Akira decided to drop at least a hint. 

“Anyone who speaks poorly of the Phantom Thieves isn’t good to lead this country, at least in my books.” Maruki caught onto what Akira was suggesting. “Anyway, I’ll put you in contact with someone who can help you with getting treatment for your panic attacks. Or I want to… If you’re supposed to be dead it’s a bit of a problem in treatment.” Maruki touched his chin, not sure what to do now.

“Maybe Takemi can help? She’s my GP.” Akira explained. “I guess this is where it sucks to just be a psychologist and not a psychiatrist, huh?” Akira teased not really in the mood to see yet another person to get treatment. He had his doubts about Takemi being able to do something about this but he could hope. The last thing he needed to do was have a panic attack in the middle of a fight.

“Won’t know without talking to her.” Maruki nodded. “Maybe I’ll go back to get that extra degree.” Maruki joked then finished his coffee. “How about one more training session? It might do you some extra good all things considered. I can cover how to come down from a panic attack. It won’t always work but it’s a good start.” 

“I’ll take it.” Akira nodded, draining his own cup before sitting with Maruki to listen. Maruki’s advice was mostly just about how to breathe properly. Once they were done Maruki left and Sojiro returned to reopen the shop so Akira went back to his room to wait until it was time to go to Shido’s palace.

_______________________________________________________________

“I have heard nothing but people praising fuckin’ Shido all damn day.” Ryuji complained loudly to Akira as the two of them made their way toward the diet building. They were going in pairs to eliminate the suspicion of a large group. 

“Yeah I heard some of the people on the train over here. Made me sick.” Akira nodded as Morgana popped out of his usual bag. He brought another with him knowing Goro said he wouldn’t really need extra clothes but brought them anyway.

“I honestly can’t wait to change his heart so people see the real him.” Morgana said with a raised paw. “He’ll get what he deserves soon!” 

“So, what’s with the bag?” Ryuji raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

“Morgana rides in it.” Akira said deadpan. 

“You know I meant the other one you asshole!” Ryuji snapped. 

“He’s going to hide out in Akechi’s apartment for a few days.” Morgana sold him out.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Ryuji questioned. He didn’t seem worried, just curious, so that was good. “I mean like… you look pretty rough. People might pay more attention to you because of it?” 

“Ah, I’m actually a little worried about how he’s going to take seeing my face like this. I’m tempted to close my hood up so he can’t see until Mona fixes me up. You know?” Akira reached up to play with his bangs. 

“You think he’ll freak?” Ryuji rolled his eyes.

“I have it on good authority that he might.” Akira sighed, lowering his hand. “I’ll be okay. I might just be worrying too much. I thought I was going to get swarmed by you guys so I could be wrong.” Akira shrugged.

“Bro, the only reason I’m not just princess carrying your ass around is because I think it would actually hurt you more. We talked about what we should do after seeing how hurt you were and shit.” Ryuji shook his head. 

“Shut up Ryuji!” Morgana snapped. 

“Fuck that, all the secrets and shit in the party lately has been making it hell between hanahaki and Akechi’s full blown double agent act.” Ryuji brushed off Morgana. “If dia doesn’t do enough to heal you we’re gunna ask you to step out.” 

“Aw, you do care.” Akira teased before turning serious. “I get it. I wouldn’t want me around if I were you guys and I looked like this. To be frank I’m worried about how effective I’ll be here but there’s only one way to make sure. So, here we go. You know?” 

“Yeah bro.” 

“We’ve already gotten this far. I can’t go home now. Besides, I’m going to hide out at Goro’s place instead. He’s got a really nice bed and if I’m napping to recover I’m putting my body in that.” Akira laughed. “And there won’t be people really bugging me. I’ve been there before so it won’t be weird for them if I’m around. Won’t even look twice at me. And besides that, Shido trusts him again. He won’t be getting watched anymore. I mean, he _killed_ **me,** Ryuji. You know, the guy Shido was sure he was in love with?” 

“I guess. It’s still weird thinking about how there are actually people out there who think you’re dead.” Ryuji hummed. 

“There were so many messages on my phone after the report of my death came out.” Akira stared off into the middle distance as he remembered. “So many. Being popular is a curse.” 

“How many fuckin’ people know who you are?” Ryuji looked a little annoyed. 

“Listen, I got found out through helping people with their issues. It just so happened that a lot of them needed changes of heart via Mementos and then it was hard to hide.” 

“And everyone yelled at me about it.” 

“That’s because you were shouting it around strangers we know nothing about. These people are all ride or die with me.” Akira took his phone out to show some messages from Iwai. “He literally told me he would rejoin the yakuza to burn the police station to the ground if I really was dead.”

“Fuck…” Ryuji read some messages before looking ahead of them as they approached the building. “Well, as long as you’re sure I’ll trust you, _leader_.” 

“Maybe after we change Shido’s heart you can tell everyone you’re a Phantom Thief, Ryuji.” Morgana suggested. 

“You think?” 

“Yeah, we just have to be careful we don’t get caught before then.” Akira laughed before he took his phone out to pull up the Nav. After a quick check around for any people he tapped the screen to bring the three of them into the Metaverse to join the others who had already arrived. 

“Just waiting on one more.” Yusuke said, looking back toward Akira and Ryuji. 

“Goro’s not here yet?” Akira looked around a bit disappointed.

“Who said that?” Goro’s voice spoke from behind Akira giving him a start.

“Don’t scare me like that!” Akira wheeled around to shout before throwing himself on Goro for a hug. “I missed you.” 

“I missed you as well.” Goro returned the embrace before separating. He frowned as he looked at Akira’s face. Well, there was no hiding the damage now. “It looks worse than that night…” Goro commented touching under Akira’s chin to make him look up to inspect all the bruises. “Those pricks…”

“I thought Makoto was due before us?” Ryuji questioned after clearing his throat then looking around. “And the building looks the same?” He was grasping for anything to distract from Akira and Goro’s moment which Akira was grateful for. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate the action, it was just in front of literally everyone.

“The gate is open now, but also look behind you.” Goro suggested before letting Akira go so he could look at what Goro was talking about. Once Akira and Ryuji turned to look at what could only be an ocean. “It seems he indeed sees himself as the captain guiding the country’s fate from his mighty ship.” 

“Shit.” Ryuji walked toward the railing to look around as they passed by buildings. He leaned over to look down the side of the ship, something Akira imitated, to see how the ship stretched on for what could have easily been a mile or more. “Fuck. It’s HUGE!”

“That’s what I said.” Akira joked, earning a raised fist before Ryuji seemed to think better of it and just glared.

“You said what now?” Goro folded his arms earning a sheepish smile from Akira. “Anyway, I just regret helping Shido for as long as I did. Revenge or not, this view… he’s going to sink the whole country to get what he wants.” 

“Have you been inside?” Akira stepped back to look at Goro.

“No. I didn’t want to risk running into a cognition and it causing unnecessary paranoia in him.” Goro shook his head before Makoto appeared. “Looks like we’re all here, it’s time to head inside.” 

“Right, let’s gather up.” Morgana announced running off to join the others. 

“Are you going to be okay?” Akira paused to ask Goro once Ryuji walked away from them. 

“I will be. We’re going to change his heart and make him confess his crimes.” Goro repeated the line he’d been using for a while now.

“You sure you still don’t want to just kill him?” Akira raised an eyebrow. 

Goro stared at Akira for a solid minute or so before he sighed. “I admit I still have those feelings, but then I look at you right now and I realize that nothing will be solved if Shido just dies. The whole corrupt system needs to be dealt with from the SIU director to the bought cops working for him.” 

“I’m glad to hear you say that.” Akira smiled. “I knew you would try your best not to actually kill since that’s not something we do, but hearing your reasons why… I think it’d be safe to say you’ll be okay if something happens and you’ve got a minute alone with Shido.” 

“What do you mean?” Goro gave Akira a suspicious side glance. 

“I mean that maybe you get that minute to impart the knowledge of how much suffering your mother had to endure because of him before his shadow slinks back off to his host.” Akira put his hands in his pockets. “You said a change of heart makes confession feel blissful right? Then make sure he suffers for something else, what he did to you for example.” 

“So you’re enabling me are you?” Goro let out a single laugh before looking across the ocean then to Akira. “I’ll take that. I do want him to suffer somehow.”

“Glad I could help.” Akira turned to start walking away before Goro grabbed him by the shoulder to pull him back for a kiss. It was a quick one but after everything the last few days Akira was glad to have gotten it. It made him feel floaty and like he wasn’t edging on a panic attack constantly. “Hm, I might need more of those later.” 

“Later.” Goro smiled then walked away to join the rest of the group.

“Alright guys. Judging from the level of this distortion I think we can assume that this is completely different from any palace we’ve done in the past,” Morgana looked around. “Shido’s desires put him in the only surviving structure in this twisted world of his. If we don’t stop him then all of Japan could actually end up looking something like this.” 

“The ocean is red…” Haru noted. “Would that mean blood? Is he willing to let people die for this?” 

“Of course.” Goro answered. “I had a part in nurturing this twisted cognition but I didn’t think it would go this far. I’m afraid that if Shido were to actually get his position of power that there would be nothing to stop him, even if we change his heart.” 

“We’ll just have to make sure we succeed before then.” Yusuke spoke. 

“We have to put an end to this before December 17th.” Makoto said, looking around. “Before the elections.” 

“I’d go as far as to say sooner.” Goro suggested. “We don’t want him to win the election at all. If we wait too long he won’t have time to confess before the ballots are taken.” 

“Shit you’re right.” Ryuji clenched his fist.

“The sooner the better right?” Akira suggested. “Let’s get started then.” Akira led his way into the building feeling pretty confident in what they were doing and why. The only thing he was questioning was how to save Goro from prison. 

______________________________________________________________

After steady investigation of the main area they entered into the group found out that they needed to gain letters of introduction to enter into the representative chamber. To that end they needed to find certain people to give them those papers. Six people.

However during their talking with people a chilling revelation came to light. The people in masks through the ship weren’t just cognitions, they were the shadows of real people fused with cognitions. Rather than being in Mementos these people’s shadows lived on Shido’s ship.

“What does this mean?” Ryuji questioned as they sat around the safe room table to strategize.

“It means that when we go for these letters of commendation we have to be careful we don’t kill the shadows if they try to resist us.” Goro explained. “We don’t know that they will put up a fight, but if they do we have to keep in mind that they’re people. Killing the shadow would trigger a mental shutdown and maybe kill them.” 

“I see.” Yusuke touched his chin. “We’ll be having to rely on our wit to get this job done safely. Lest we turn into real murderers.” 

“No way that’s going to happen.” Akira cut in.

“It may be hard to tell cognition from shadow so we have to be careful no matter who we fight here.” Morgana jumped up onto the table. “Shido’s got impressive observational insight so it’s turned every entity here into a smart and deadly foe.” 

“So, keeping that in mind we have to get letters of introduction from six of Shido’s personal VIPs?” Haru confirmed. “And when we have those in hand they’ll turn into keycards we can use to get into the chamber?” 

“Correct.” Makoto said before she began to go over the information they had on the people they needed to find. A few of the VIPs would be easy to find, but when it came to an IT president, a doctor, and a ‘cleaner’ things started to get tricky.

“So the IT president doesn’t come out of his room, and the doctor doesn’t leave his research lab,” Ann tapped the side of her face, “and what did a cleaner do to get VIP status from Shido? Get out a spaghetti stain?” Ann joked.

“Not that kind of cleaner,” Goro said bracing his hands on the table, “a cleaner for the purpose of what Shido needs is an assassin. Different from how he used me. His cleaner cleans up messes either by killing or after the fact. He would be the one who killed Okumura, or at least assisted in it.” Goro looked to Haru.

“I see.” Haru looked at the table. “So we have to get a letter of introduction from my father’s murderer.” 

“He’s going to be strong here,” Goro shook his head, “Shido puts a lot of faith in his cleaner to take care of anything Shido himself deems too messy. It’ll give him a lot of power so it would be safest to leave the cleaner for last, if we can.” 

“Right.” Ann nodded nervously. “Uh, question then… should we worry about a cognition of you being around too?”

“Probably.” Goro nodded. “It won’t be as easy to deal with as the cognitive me we found in Sae’s palace. Some rope and a sock won’t be enough to stop whatever Shido sees me as.”

“We’ll just have to be careful if we see Goro around in any non-Metaverse outfits. For now let’s start with the VIP in the dining lounge.” Akira suggested. “After that we’ll see where we end up. Let’s head out.” 

“Right,” Goro pushed back from the table and the party headed out.

Finding the dining hall wasn’t difficult but getting into it was a whole separate issue. They needed to steal a membership card to eat. It set a pretty gross tone in Akira’s opinion as to what Shido would require if people didn’t have enough money.

“So how do we find a member card?” Ryuji complained. 

“When we were on our way here I heard someone complaining about dropping a card.” Goro noted. “He said he would just have to go around the bars to find it later.” 

“I think you mean so we can find it.” Akira grinned. “Let’s go get ourselves a dining card.” Akira turned from the host to head back into the area they had gone through before. With some third eye tracking Akira was able to find exactly where the man had lost his member’s card.

“You really have a knack for that.” Goro noted.

“Would you believe me if I said I had a third eye?” Akira questioned with a smirk.

Goro was silent for a while before he nodded his head. “I would. Strange powers seem to hover around you, so the belief that you inherently have a supernatural means of finding information and secrets isn’t that absurd.” 

“You didn’t need to explain why you believe me.” Akira laughed, reaching to Goro to try dragging him into another kiss but with the others around Goro instead took hold of his hand and started to head back toward the dining hall. 

“Stop wasting time.” Goro said flatly.

“Aw, are you shy?” Akira asked but Goro ignored the question as he approached the host to shove the card in his face.

“Ah! Thank you for displaying your proof of membership, sir! Please head inside.” The host motioned for them to pass. “Mind that seats with blue flowers are reserved for special guests. Please refrain from sitting in those places.” 

“Sounds like our guy.” Akira noted Goro still dragging him along into the dining room. “Fancy. When I’m not pretending to be dead we should go on a date to a fancy place like this.”

“You would hate it.” Goro said flatly.

“Maybe it'd be fun to get all dressed up nice.” Akira grinned. “But seriously, this is an impressive fake restaurant.”

“Right even the food looks killer.” Ryuji looked around at the tables with food present.

“Please try not to get too excited. You’re going to draw a lot of attention to us.” Makoto sighed, touching her face. “Look, there’s the reserved table. It looks like the only one?” 

“That’s probably where that politician will be sitting.” Goro noted. “It’d be best if I stay out of the way. Some of these VIPs have seen my face when dealing with Shido.”

“I’ll go sit at the table near it. If we’re a big group he might become guarded.” Makoto tucked her hair back behind her ear.

“Wouldn’t being alone be too strange? Someone else should go as well.” Haru suggested. 

“Skull?” Akira suggested. 

“Hell yeah.” Ryuji stepped up next to Makoto. “I mean, it’s a restaurant. I was born for this.” 

“I have questions about that…” Goro folded his arms. “Nonetheless good luck.” 

“Here we go.” Makoto sighed leaving the group with Ryuji to sit at the table near the blue flowers. The rest of the party fanned out around the room so as not to draw attention to themselves leaving Akira and Goro standing near the stage.

“How’re you holding up?” Akira questioned. 

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Goro countered. “You were still in bad shape before we came inside.” 

“Yeah. I saw Maruki before we came in today.” Akira played with his bangs. “He was discreet so don’t stress,” he added at Goro’s expression, “I told him about what happened and he said I should probably start taking anxiety medication. I was going to talk to Takemi about it but… well I’m going to your place after this.” 

Goro looked thoughtful for a moment, his eyes wandering to watch Makoto and Ryuji a moment before looking back at Akira, “let’s put it off one more day. See Takemi-sensei first. There’s no telling what could happen to us here and it’d be dangerous if you went into a panic attack in the middle of a fight.”

Akira opened his mouth to complain but thought better of it. Goro was right. He’d gone a long time already with being a liability to the Phantom Thieves. He was finally free of his hanahaki and had the support of his friends, he needed to take care of himself before he could effectively care for the group. “Fine.” Akira pouted. 

“We’ll have time together later.” Goro promised cupping his cheek to lean in and give him a careful kiss, their masks tapping together lightly. They held this for a moment until Ryuji’s voice reached them. “Looks like trouble.” 

“With Skull it always is.” Akira sighed looking over as Makoto took control of the situation. The two of them fell silent to listen as Makoto and Ooe exchanged pleasantries until it came to the topic of requesting shutdowns. Akira glanced at Goro to find his boyfriend making a disgusted face as he glared at Ooe.

“He was the one who requested the train engineer.” Goro mumbled as Ooe explained his reasoning behind it. Makoto quickly took that information to turn it on Ooe to demand a letter in exchange to keep his secret. “She certainly is Sae-san’s sister. She wastes no time.” 

“Guys!” Makoto called as Ooe’s shadow bled out and took the form of a large eight headed snake.

“Time to fight.” Akira cracked his neck then rushed in to help. The fight wasn’t nearly as difficult as Sae’s and by the end Ooe dropped a letter and reverted to human form. 

He begged them to keep the subway accident a secret but Goro stepped forward to offer an ultimatum. “We could, so long as you forget you saw us here and withdraw your support from Shido.” 

“He’d kill me!” Ooe paled. 

“That’s possible, or we can make sure you confess your crimes with your own mouth. We’ve done it many times already after all.” Goro smiled sweetly and used his very best TV voice.

“I-I’ll do what you want!” Ooe threw his hands up. “I’ll do it right away.” 

“Good. Don’t mention a change of heart. Just do it for your own personal gain. Understand?” Goro placed a hand on his hip before Ooe nodded quickly then faded away. “One down.” 

“Is that how you spoke with my father?” Haru asked. 

“It’s similar.” Goro explained turning to the group. “Shadows are easily scared, given the right nudge they’ll do what you tell them to if they think it’ll save their skins. Suggesting they go to sleep and don’t wake up for a long time is one I’ve made a few times.” 

“But they could wake up…” Haru looked thoughtful.

“Someday.” Goro confirmed. “I’m just sorry it didn’t work out for your father as I intended, or your mother.” Goro looked to Futaba.

“It’s fine.” Haru offered a sad smile. “You tried.” 

“It’s just hurry up and get the next letter.” Futaba ignored Goro to head toward the elevator to move on. 

_____________________________________________________________

The next area took them through a series of statues that would turn them into mice if they were in the line of sight of it. After careful navigation the group found their way to the pool deck where the noble was said to spend his time.

“Are all these dudes, like, dudes?” Ryuji questioned. 

“Semi-overweight straight dudes? Probably.” Akira looked around for someone fitting that description before his eyes landed on one man sitting in a chair with a personal attendant. “My money is on that guy.” 

“Let’s check it out.” Ryuji began to walk toward the man with Akira following right behind him. “Hey dude, nice day out right?” 

“Did you really ‘dude’ this guy?” Akira snorted.

“Uh- I mean, sir?” Ryuji flushed. 

“Skull, you are hopeless.” Ann sighed, “Hello sir! Would you mind talking with me perhaps?” Ann tried but the noble turned his nose up at them. 

“This isn’t going to work. We need something that gets his attention.” Yusuke frowned. 

“I could put the fear of God into him.” Goro suggested mindlessly pretending to check his gloved nails. 

“Let’s avoid drawing more attention to ourselves.” Makoto shook her head. “Let’s regroup and think up something.”

Once they were far enough from the noble they could talk the group launched into conversation on their choices. “I still think I should just scare him…” Goro said after a run around of bad ideas. 

“Crow, we all know you’re very good at being terrifying when you want to be, but we need a little more tact in this situation.” Akira gave him a pat on the arm. “We need to find out some info on that guy to see how we’ll get him to talk.”

“I suddenly miss how I would just tear through a palace with Loki and call it a day. It was so much easier.” Goro grumbled.

The party started to talk to people trying to get some kind of information but when they found nothing Ryuji had an idea. After a quick explanation about how no guy like him could resist a girl in a bikini they set out to put the girls in swimsuits. 

“Now, hold on.” Makoto put her hands up after they got into the dressing room. “Do we _all_ really need to do this?” 

“Right? I totes think just one of us is enough right?” Futaba added quickly. “And I think that honor should go to the best looking one of us.”

“Isn’t that wording kind of baity?” Akira asked. “Is someone going to get punched?” 

“I think that wording choice is a bit…” Haru looked uncomfortable, “there has to be another way to decide.” 

“Well, Haru, you’re like… kind of royalty in a weird way right? Like, an important family with a bunch of money thing?” Futaba touched her chin.

“W-well, yes but…” Haru chewed her lip, “oh! I’d be recognized right? I shouldn’t do it.”

“Are you guys really that nervous about a swimsuit?” Ann laughed. 

“It should be Ann!” Futaba pointed. “You model and stuff! You’re used to getting looked at! Totes needs to be Ann!” 

“What?! Why me?!” Ann snapped. 

“I mean… Futaba is right. You’re a model. You’ve got the form for it.” Makoto agreed though Akira suspected it was because she herself didn’t want to get into a swimsuit. 

“Uuuugh, FINE.” Ann rolled her eyes then grabbed up a suit to change into. “I hate this.”

“I got you Ann.” Akira said before he too picked out a swimsuit to put on as well. He was in solidarity with Ann so she didn’t feel all alone. He did at least opt for normal trunks so he didn’t gain too much attention. He doubted a speedo would go over well for _many_ reasons.

“Joker, you’re really the best.” Ann hugged his arm to her as they walked together. She paused to reach back to make sure her top was knotted tightly. It was then Goro decided to slip between them.

“Hmm, jealous?” Akira asked him quietly. 

“No.” Goro said sharply but Akira could see past it. He didn’t want Ann or anyone getting that close to Akira. Cute.

“I’m _so_ not looking forward to this. Why can’t you do it?” Ann asked Akira.

“I would be down for it, but the dude gives off those vibes of stereotypical hetero.” Akira shoved his hands into his pockets. “Like, I’m sure he’d attack me if I tried to flirt. I don’t have the tits for this job sadly. Also I think Crow would object.”

“I would.” Goro answered with a smile.

“Ugh.” Ann groaned again. “ _Fine,_ but I want a reward after this!”

“I’ll treat you to dinner.” Goro offered. “Crepes too.”

“They better be the best ever.” Ann demanded.

“Come on it’s your time to shine,” Ryuji motioned at the noble,” get him to talk.” 

“Fine.” Ann groaned. “If he starts getting sleazy I swear to god...” 

“Just have Queen put him in the hospital.” Akira teased, earning a glare from Makoto before Ann walked over to the noble to talk to him. 

“So… you really put on a swimsuit too huh? Why?” Goro questioned. 

“To be viciously distracting to you so you don’t try to just scare everyone into submission?” Akira teased with a grin not sure if it was really a good joke to make. He still was a little bruised.

“Well,” Goro trailed off looking over Akira. He was probably trying to decide if he was worried about all the injuries or not but when Goro spoke next he relaxed, “it’s not like it’s a bad plan. You are very distracting.”

“Can you two go back to pretending you’re not dating for like… an hour?” Ryuji asked before making a gagging sound when Morgana jumped up to yank on his ascot.

“Leave them alone Skull, if you need the reminder Akira almost died and his hanahaki could come back if they don’t act like this.” Morgana let go to stand next to him. “Ignore him. You guys carry on.” 

“Mona’s a true ally.” Akira faked wiping a tear from his eye.

“I gotta ask, bro,” Ryuji spoke again once he loosened his ascot again, “can you even see without your glasses?” 

“Yeah actually? Like, I can see without them anyway but it’s not blurry. I think it’s some Metaverse bullshit magic? I don’t know.” Akira waved a hand.

“Makes odd sense.” Yusuke admitted before the noble started to get handsy with Ann. “Looks like things are getting heated.” 

“Should we put his face into the ground?” Ryuji asked.

“Oh yes, I think so.” Akira put his hands in his pockets before he made his way over to where the noble was telling Ann that she should come with him to his room so they could get on intimate terms. 

Eventually Ann snapped, ripping her arm away from the man before shouting at him for being a pervert. “Now that I’m done _using you,_ get away from me you creep!” Ann shouted at him before he turned around to shout across the pool deck, “THIS GUY IS A MOLESTER!!”

“I’m so proud.” Akira faked a sniffle. “She’s come so far since April. I’d like to see Kamoshida try messing with her now. Actually no I wouldn’t. If I see Kamoshida ever again it’ll be too soon.” 

Once she shouted some more, her and Akira’s clothes went back to their thief outfits. Akira checked himself over before shrugging. “Looks like a fight.” Akira noted as the noble turned into a manta ray looking thing.

Once the fight was over Ann waved about the letter she’d gotten and grinned. “Got the letter~! I never thought I’d be happy to be back in his outfit… Anyway,” She paused and looked down at the man on the floor thoughtfully, “you asked for shutdowns too didn’t you?” 

“Being of high lineage doesn’t promise wealth these days.” The noble shook his head. “I promised to introduce Shido-san to wealthy nobles if he would conduct certain shutdowns in people standing in my way.”

“So introductions work the same as what we’re doing now.” Yusuke said thoughtfully.

“Shido-san is very careful about the passengers he allows on this ship. He won’t allow people on this ship that he cannot trust.” The noble explained. 

“He screens people he can use who won’t betray him,” Goro spoke, “this man for example would give Shido people who could give him money and could remain loyal to him because he’s poor regardless of his lineage.” 

“The passengers here are all in masks because Shido isn’t deceived by appearances.” Morgana thought on this information. “What a frightful man.” 

“If you can call him that.” Goro frowned. “At any rate, Akizuki-san I think after you leave here you should cut your ties with Shido.” Goro approached the noble to smile sweetly again. Was he going to do this with all six? “Do not retain contact with him and tell the nobles you’ve introduced him to, to withdraw their support. If you don’t I trust that the Phantom Thieves changing your heart would probably ruin you wouldn’t it?” 

“I-I will do as you say! Please allow me to leave!” Akizuki begged.

“Good, leave.” Goro stepped back before Akizuki faded away. “Before I’m asked, I am going to do this with them all.” So Akira didn’t even need to ask him. Goro was as sharp as ever. “Until we actually change Shido’s heart he has all his powers. We can fight him in reality like this.”

“Smart.” Futaba noted. “That’s two down, four to go, what’s next?” 

“The IT president hides out in his room, we agreed to leave the cleaner for last, and we don’t know where this ‘lab’ for the researcher is so we’ll have to aim for the TV station president.” Morgana suggested. “Let’s just go forward to figure out where he is from there?” 

“We might want to take a break from this point though.” Yusuke suggested. “We’ve gotten pretty far for today and we don’t want to end up in a fight tired.” 

“You have a point Fox. Anyone against ending here for the day?” Akira looked around. No one seemed to be against it, “Alright, let’s find a safe room around here and rest.” 

_____________________________________________________________

One by one the party left until it was just Goro, Morgana, and Akira left. They wanted to spend at least a little time together before having to separate again. Akira found it funny that only now that they couldn’t be together in public they wanted to spend more time together than ever.

“Since I’m not coming home with you I guess I’ll just leave my bag here?” Akira toed it around as he thought about the trouble of taking it home with him after the trouble of taking it with him to start with. It wasn’t like anyone was going to come into the palace and fuck with it if he left it behind.

“I can take it with me instead.” Goro offered. “Ideally you’ll come with me tomorrow so it makes sense.” Goro smiled before he picked up the bag. He didn’t move to leave yet though. “There might be a lot of things that come out in this palace.” Goro looked back to the diet building, “About myself and about…” 

“About...what?” Akira questioned after Goro stopped. 

“The type of man Shido is…?” Goro shook his head. “No that’s not right. I just...I don’t want to say anything yet. I’m sorry. It’s not that I’m keeping it secret. I just don’t know the best time to let it be known. I was hoping to avoid it forever if I’m honest.” 

“Is it so bad you think I’ll start hating you or something?” Akira wondered what kind of unsaid thing could make Goro that scared.

“No. It’s not you I’m worried about.” Goro shook his head. 

“I don’t think the team can dislike you more right now.” Morgana offered with a weak smile, “I mean, you’re in a pretty gray zone with most of them.” 

“I realize that.” Goro let out as sigh as he agreed. “It doesn’t have anything to do with that either. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” 

“You don’t want to try using us as a sounding board?” Akira questioned. 

“Not at this time. I promise it’s not just because of Mona.” Goro looked to Morgana with a half smile. “I need to get it all in order and talk to the person it affects the most. I probably won’t be believed without evidence so I’ll need that.” 

“You think you’ll find it here?” Akira motioned back at the palace.

“If I have a chance of finding it anywhere it’ll be in that research lab I bet.” Goro nodded. “Will you help me?” 

“Of course I will.” Akira grinned. “I’m still your assistant right? I am glad you asked me though. It’s nice hearing it.” 

“I was wondering if you still considered yourself that.” Goro laughed. “I figure I should probably make sure you wanted in, and also maybe be better about asking at all. Not asking put your life in danger before and that’s not a mistake I’m going to repeat.” Goro moved closer to Akira to give him a kiss. “I’ll text you when I get home.” 

“You don’t want to do another phone call?” Akira pouted. 

“If we do that we’ll stay up too late talking and while you don’t have school I do have things I have to do.” Goro teased and then adjusted Akira’s bag closer onto his shoulder. “I’ll leave now and take this with me. See you tomorrow.” Goro took out his phone to end his own navigation and leave.

“What do you think he'd be hiding?” Morgana questioned. 

“I don’t think he’s hiding anything.” Akira shook his head. “He said he needed proof before he said anything. I can’t blame him for not saying anything before he’s comfortable. It’s like when you guys had thought he was suspicious but didn’t want to tell me before you had proof.” Akira explained, “He’s being careful.” 

“You have a point,” Morgana folded his arms, “well, whatever it is I’ll help as well.” 

“Hopefully he gives us a clue as to what he’s looking for.” Akira hummed. “Well, I think that’s enough time. Let’s head home?” 

“Talk to Takemi or he’ll tell you to go home tomorrow too.” Morgana warned Akira as they left the palace. 

“Yeah I know. I’ll shoot her a text before we get home.” Akira pulled his school bag around to let Morgana jump in before he pulled up his hood and headed home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first thing is first, maruki showing up to talk to akira was something i felt was important. like, the boy went through some SHIT and needed to get that out. i like to think that maruki is aware he might have a palace. not that akira's been in it but he know his desire to save people like he wants to probably has warped enough to create one. he just doesn't care to try and stop it. on a more practical note... i know nothing about what doctors can and can't prescribe without like... therapy related notes of some kind so i'm taking some libraties with takemi being able to help akira out. if it's wrong... /shrug
> 
> fan fiction. y'know?
> 
> anyway, next point of interest is the letters. in the original game you only needed five letters. fine. however, i'd like to argue that shido probably saw the researcher for his cognitive stuff as important. so, i put that in there to add one more level of shit to this but also to do something you'll find out about next chapter. i talk to my husband about the idea that gets alluded to here at the end and he thought it was a great idea so here's hoping that it'll be well received. 
> 
> i don't think that the cognition and the shadows of the people were actually a thing? i might have gotten mixed up somewhere. if it was, cool, canon compliant. if not, eh, i added a more interesting level to the shit going on.
> 
> i think that about wraps up anything i wanted to go over so yeah. #protectiveakechi2020 that is all.
> 
> preview: _The group made their way back out of the security room through the engine room Goro paused to turn up and look at something. Akira followed his gaze but found nothing in sight. “What’s wrong?”_
> 
> _“Nothing…” Goro turned away. “I just thought that there was something there. Since you know, no one ever looks up in rooms like this.” Goro teased with a smirk. “If it were me I would have hid up there to ambush you so I wondered if my cognition would be up there, but then I remember that Shido knows nothing about me.”_  
> 


	31. this is too much bullshit for one day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the phantom thieves get the last of the letters but not without it's share of problems. as they approach the end of the palace a secret comes out but with a fight versus the cognitive version of goro they have other things to worry about first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i did something fun this chapter. i hope y'all enjoy.

“So you decided to grace me with your presence again.” Takemi said once she looked up from her notes to realize again was in front of her. 

“Sorry I haven’t been around much.” Akira reached up to play with his bangs. “I, uh, I healed up some right?” 

Takemi let out a long hum as she looked over his face then sighed. “I’m just teasing you, you know? If I saw you more often than I already do there’d be a problem. Come on.” She said then stood up to guide him into the exam room. “You need a check up or some medicine?”

“Medicine actually, but not what you think.” Akira set his bag down on the ground then sat on the stool nearest Takemi. “You, uh, you saw how I looked the other night. Right?” 

“I did.” Takemi nodded. “Honestly, I know you have some kind of magic on your side, but you look better than I expected. Your throat is basically healed at this point and just looking at your face you look better. I had you pinned for weeks of recovery. You’re very good at making my predictions go haywire.”

“Yeah, love that weird magic thing I got.” Akira chuckled then lowered his hands. “I’m actually here because I’m wondering if you have anything for anxiety?” 

“Anxiety?” Takemi repeated. 

“Yeah, I… I had a panic attack when I first woke up. I nearly decked Sojiro in the face and came up with a half baked plan to throw myself out of a window to get to safety.” Akira admitted. “I managed to calm down from that but… I’m scared of it happening when I need to be all there. I talked to my therapist about it and he said I should be on something that’ll temper my anxiety.”

“Well, I can give you something to help but nothing will be able to completely get rid of panic attacks. Keeping with therapy and knowing the signs of when one is coming on are important.” Takemi pulled a folder out of her desk. “Did your therapist teach you anything to help you come down from a panic attack if one happens?” 

“Yeah.” Akira nodded. 

“Good, you should teach it to Akechi-kun as well. Between needing validation for your hanahaki still and now the panic attacks he should know how to help you.” Takemi took out a pen to write something. “I’ll give you a prescription to take in order to help manage your panic attacks. I’d also like to run a quick physical on you now to check you for any unhealed damage. Okay?” 

“Sure. I got nowhere to be.” Akira agreed. 

Akira was honestly surprised that talking with Takemi about medication involving anxiety and panic attacks was that easy. Hell it was much easier than any talk he ever had with her about hanahaki. After his physical, she gave medication of her own making and sent him on his way. It was probably one of the shorter visits Akira had ever had with Takemi. It was just starting to turn to night properly when he made his way back to Leblanc. Akira had just stepped inside to view a familiar ponytail of red hair.

“Senpai!” Kasumi exclaimed as she quickly turned to him with a smile. 

“Shit, I knew you shouldn’t be walking around.” Sojiro groaned as Futaba glanced up from her phone then back to the screen.

“Nah, it’s fine.” Futaba insisted. 

“No worries Sojiro, Yoshizawa knows what’s up.” Akira explained before Sojiro turned to clean something muttering about being reckless. 

“You’re not, like, a stunt double or something, right?!” Kasumi reached a hand out to touch Akira’s arm. 

“It’s all me.” Akira chuckled. “Why don’t we sit and talk?” 

“I’ll close the shop while I grab some groceries. Get caught up.” Sojiro announced coming around the counter before he left.

“I thought maybe you’d like to talk to her since she kinda saved your skin back in the palace.” Morgana announced. “So it turned out to be a good thing you didn’t go to Akechi’s last night.” Morgana scratched behind his ear. “I asked Futaba a favor, and she asked Ryuji to pass on the message to Yoshizawa here.” 

“I’m so happy! I was so worried about you when the news said you were dead!” Kasumi said once Sojiro was gone. “Seriously why didn’t you tell me anything?” 

“Sorry, it was a wild few days.” Akira played with his bangs before he sat down in a booth joined by Morgana and Futaba. “By the way, this is my surrogate little sister Futaba Sakura,” Akira motioned to Futaba as she pulled her knees up to her chest. “Futaba, this is Kasumi Yoshizawa. She’s a gymnast at the Shujin and a persona user.” 

“Oooo,” Futaba grinned,“wassup? It’s a-- pleasure to meet you!” 

“It’s nice to meet you as well, Sakura-san!” Kasumi returned.

“Futaba can’t you figure out if you want to be polite or casual?” Morgana groaned.

“Shut up! Don’t underestimate my people anxiety!” Futaba warned Morgana before she began to mess with his fur before speaking to Kasumi again. “So I heard that you helped Akira out in a rando palace a while back, right? Thanks a ton for that.” 

“Oh! No, no! He saved me.” Kasumi waved her hands. “I just stood up on my own feet to fight back as well. There’s no way I could ever repay him for what he’s done for me, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try!” 

“What a refined response! Are we really about the same age?” Futaba held a hand to her mouth. “Nevermind that, I wanted to know something, how’d you get into the palace in the first place? The casino. Not that I’m ungrateful but if our plan leaked somehow we have to figure out what all got out.” 

“Oh! Uh, no.” Kasumi shook her head. “It wasn’t that it was leaked per se,” Kasumi twiddled her fingers nervously before bowing. “I’m so sorry I followed you!” 

“Followed?” Akira questioned. 

“Yes, we had lunch that one day right? It sounded like something important was going on that day so I was worried and ended up following you around to find out what was up. I’m so very sorry!”

“So that’s it.” Akira laughed. “You’re fine Yoshizawa, thank you so much for helping me.”

“You’re very welcome, though… I’ve been considering something for a while now,” Kasumi touched the side of her face. “Perhaps I should be fighting alongside you. I have the same special powers you do and you try your best to help people. I got to wondering if an outsider like myself should get involved but just standing there doing nothing was just something I could not do.”

“Well, you def set the precedent for most badass team intro if you go by that route.” Futaba pushed her glasses up.

“I was just trying to make up for how much Kurusu-senpai has helped me in the past.” Kasumi flushed. “A-at any rate! Correct me if I’m wrong but you’re not done yet, are you? There’s still more you have to do?” 

“Hm,” Morgana sounded, “we could definitely use the additional firepower but…”

“I’d welcome you to the team if the person we’re after right now wasn’t as bad as they come.” Akira cut in. “It’s just **too** dangerous to bring you into this fight. There’s no telling what risks you’d take and you told me yourself your sister died in the spring right? I would never forgive myself if something happened to you and your parents lost you too.” 

Kasumi gasped at this before staring hard at the table for a few minutes. “Okay then.” Kasumi nodded. “I believe I’d be acting selfishly if I were to press further. I understand your reasoning. If the situation is as dangerous as you say it is, then I’ll wait for you to return, but next time I’ll help.” 

“I’ll hold you to that.” Akira smiled. “We just have to hope there won’t be a next time.”

“Then you promise me that you’ll come back safely, no matter what, okay?” Kasumi stared at Akira. “I never want to feel as horribly as I did then I thought you had died… I don’t want to lose any more precious people.”

“I promise.” Akira agreed. “We’ll show you Mementos after this.” 

“Mementos?” Kasumi questioned. 

“Yeah, it’s kind of creepy and weird.” Futaba noted. “Just take care of yourself while we clean up the mess we made.” 

“I will,” Kasumi nodded before she checked her phone. “I better get moving. I’ve got practice today as usual. Thanks for reaching out to me Sakura-san.” 

“Pleasure’s all mine! Thanks for stopping by Yoshizawa-san.” Futaba flashed a peace sign before Kasumi wiggled out of the booth and left. “Well, that was refreshing.” 

“Thanks Futaba,” Akira nudged her, “I was wondering about her for a while there. I didn’t understand how she got into Sae-san’s palace for the longest time. Turns out she just piggybacked like Goro.” 

“Yeah.” Futaba suddenly sounded gloomy.

“I’m sorry.” Akira apologized as he watched Futaba move from the seat next to him to take the place Kasumi had just vacated. “I’m an idiot who loves someone who hurt you really badly.” 

“It’s not that.” Futaba drew circles on the table with her finger. “Well, maybe a little. I know you loved him before we knew about what he did. Heck, I did too. As like a weird brother thing. It’s really hard to figure out how to act around him. He’s still the same Goro Akechi at the start but then I know what he did. But at the same time he feels a whole lot less guarded when you’re around. He’s almost downright pleasant.” 

“He’s not lying to us anymore, supposedly, which is a big improvement,” Morgana said,“but I get what you mean. He feels different. He kind of seems like he gives a shit about other people.” 

“Yeah…” Futaba noted, “he was spending time with Inari the other day.” 

“Huh? Really?” Akira raised an eyebrow. Goro and Yusuke hanging out? The world was ending.

“Yeah, I dunno what they were talking about. I got curious about what Inari was up to so I reached out to him, but he was busy hanging out with _Goro Akechi_.” Futaba explained. “I started to ask around the others and even before the attempted murder thing he’s been hanging out with them. It’s like he was trying to form connections with them in hopes of trying to mend things before he betrayed us. Maybe to make the wound deeper? Like, if the betrayal had felt strong enough someone would have just Sparta kicked him off the casino roof.” 

“He did say he was trying to plant evidence of his betrayal.” Morgana hummed. “It’d be easy to drop hints with everyone then watch us bring all our information to the table.” 

“But he’s still spending time with others?” Akira asked, earning a nod from Futaba. “Well, assuming won’t get us anywhere but I’d like to think that he’s maybe trying to mend things now. I know I made a lot of friends over this last year and with that I gained a lot of insight and support. So if you look at it, if it were me instead of him, he’s just trying to repair and strengthen his bonds.” 

“I guess.” Futaba sighed. “I don’t know that I’ll let him ever get that close to me again.” 

“I get it. I’m sure he does too. No one expects you to forgive him ever, I’m just glad you don’t hate me for dating him.” Akira offered with a smile. 

“Yeah well, you two are good for one another. I was rooting for you from the start.” Futaba admitted. “Just don’t get so far into each other you get distracted in battle or something.” 

“I’ll be careful.” Akira promised.

____________________________________________________________

“Alright team, we’re heading for the slots.” Akira announced once everyone was present in Shido’s palace. “Today we find the last four letters we need then we plan our move against Shido to steal his heart. Are we clear?” 

“Sure thing Joker!” Ann said with each party member confirming as well until it was time to head in. 

Another run through a mouse maze brought the party to the realization that cheese was ultra tempting for everyone. There was no way to avoid eating it but Akira managed to at least contain himself enough to drag the cheese out of the trapped cages before they could get trapped a second time.

The party eventually found their way to the gambling deck. Some investigation yielded where the TV president was though when Akira looked at him it was obvious. He had bodyguard looking goons like the previous two had so far. “Okay how do we approach this guy?” 

“Let me handle this.” Haru stepped forward.

“You sure?” Akira questioned. 

“Yes. I’m the heiress to a large corporation, he’ll be willing to at least talk with me.” Haru nodded. 

“Go for it Noir. We’re counting on you.” Morgana encouraged her before Haru left to talk to the president. “Akechi, what’s his name?” 

“Satoru Maeda.” Goro answered, watching as Haru spoke with Maeda. “From what Shido told me of him he lent extra security to Okumura when we were targeting him. But it was a front to make it easier to leave Okumura exposed to easy to get to.” Goro explained.

Maeda continued to talk to Haru and from her rigid posture it wasn’t friendly at all. At one point he started to laugh about how he’d personally handled a ‘tell all’ segment about Okumura and his shady business. He even offered Haru a personal interview to make her at least infamous like her father had been. Haru had the letter in hand, but she was pissed. She snapped at Maeda telling him to stop disrespecting her father and insulting her.

“You okay Noir?” Akira questioned moving over to her before she shouted for Maeda to apologize. Maeda stood up at this and laughed until he turned into a monstrous shadow. “Here we go.” 

This fight was shorter than the rest so far, Maeda was hardly a challenge which was good for them. Hopefully it meant they would be strong enough to take down Shido when the time came. “We’ve got the letter we need.” Haru held the envelope up before turning to Maeda. “I assume as the president of a media company you must know important details about certain topics. We promise not to take your life so long as you share your hidden knowledge with the public!” Haru demanded and Akira raised his eyebrows. 

“Haru?” Morgana questioned. 

“R-right! Remember that mafia guy? K-Kaneshiro? He was gathering funds for Shido-san!” Maeda explained and when Makoto questioned for confirmation Maeda continued. “Not just him, but that old man Madarame did as well. His counterfeit paintings and Kaneshiro’s work funded a lot of Shido-san’s platform!” 

“So all of them were connected,” Yusuke touched his chin, “Akechi you knew of this?” 

“Yes.” Goro confirmed. “It didn’t seem important to tell you about it. I apologize for that. I was actually keeping tabs on Madarame when you all took out his palace.” 

“I see...” Yusuke dismissed. 

“There has been a lot going on and it frankly slipped my mind.” Goro explained. “I would have told you sooner if it were relevant to now. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” Yusuke offered Goro a small smile and Akira felt like he needed to check both of them for a fever. Were they okay?

“Okay, this one wasn’t too bad, let’s see about that IT president and the researcher.” Akira put his hands in his pockets before leading the party out. 

After some searching they found their way to the outer deck so they could reach the IT president’s room from the outside. Once they were outside Futaba volunteered to go inside to get the last letter which bothered Akira. He didn’t want to leave Futaba alone but at this point they couldn’t help it. She was right that she was the best person to talk to the IT guy.

“Is anyone else bothered by the fact that we keep pretty much sending the girls in to talk to shitty dudes?” Ryuji questioned as Futaba walked in.

“Well, this one looks young,” Akira glanced around the door at the IT guy, “but that doesn’t change the fact he’s probably a creep. What’s his name?” 

“Takashi Hamaguchi.” Goro answered. “I’m not sure what Shido had him do though. I just know what he was important to baiting the party back in July.” 

“Futaba said that the Medjed that attacked us was a fake, maybe him?” Makoto suggested. 

“Probably.” Akira agreed, listening carefully. Hamaguchi confirmed what they suspected about him being the one behind Medjed but then he pissed off Futaba and she shouted that she was a Phantom Thief. “Well, we tried.” Akira shrugged as he rushed inside with everyone else.

The space in the room was the only thing that gave them an issue when fighting this guy. Once they forced him back into his human form Futaba dug the letter out of his front pocket. “So, what kind of favors did you do for Shido then?” 

“The cognitive psience research…” Hamaguchi spoke, getting everyone’s attention, “after extracting the results I deleted all of the information I could find of the original data. After that I encrypted it and put it on a server not accessible by anyone normal. I never asked for any shutdowns though! I just hid the research!” 

“Maybe so,” Goro stepped forward, “but I’m sure you know where Shido’s researcher is here, don’t you?” 

“H-he’s in the hull!” Hamaguchi shouted, “The hull, near the front of the ship, but he’s got a bodyguard worse than the cleaner.” 

“Oh? Who?” Goro questioned before Hamaguchi pointed at him. “Me? I figured I was here somewhere…” Goro hummed. “Well, I’m going to tell you--”

“I got this one!” Futaba cut in. “You’re going to go back and release all that data to the public then step down as president! If you don’t then the Phantom Thieves will force you to confess _all_ your crimes! Be happy to get out without going to jail!” 

“O-okay!” Hamaguchi promised before he faded away like the rest. 

“Alright. With this we just have two left.” Futaba showed off her own letter. “And we know where to find the researcher. Should we break here or press on?” 

“Well, you told that president to release all of the data he’s been holding so I think it’d be better to press on.” Goro suggested. “Unless we’re tired?” 

“I’m good,” Ryuji said before all around the party agreed they were also fine to continue.

“Okay. Let’s find a way down then.” Akira said heading back outside to go back the way they came, “Makoto you remember that vent?” 

“Yeah it smelled horrible,” Makoto looked thoughtful before something dawned on her, “like hot engine oil.” 

“I think that’s our way down.” Akira explained before they set off. Trying to find the front of the ship from the bottom was hard. As they explored they instead accidentally came across where the cleaner was waiting in a security room. “Well, we found him, maybe we should try?” 

“Might as well,” Goro agreed, “not to brag but if my cognitive version is around that researcher that might be the most dangerous person we’ll fight here.” 

“I don’t think it sounds vain, it sounds smart.” Makoto noted. “You’ve been at Shido’s beck and call for years. He would put a lot of faith in your abilities so it makes sense you would be strong.” 

“Alright, we’ll deal with this guy first then.” Akira looked around for agreements before they found their way into the security room.

“So you’re the punks that have been making a mess of the ship huh?” The cleaner turned to look around at them. Just looking at him it was clear he was some kind of Yakuza. He remembered seeing guys like this when he had been helping Iwai. “And you came all the way here for me. Is the hit that big?” 

“Hit?” Haru questioned before the cleaner suddenly stripped his top off.

“What clan are you from?” The cleaner questioned, did he think **they** were Yakuza? “I asked you a question. So either talk or get out. I’m a busy man cleaning up the messes after all those mental shutdowns. What do you want from me?” 

“I want a letter of introduction.” Akira demanded.

“Huh? Why the fuck would I give you one?” The cleaner sneered. 

“Actually--” Ann jumped in, “we’re here to suggest a new tattoo design!” Ann motioned over at Yusuke. “This guy here is a great artist! He could whip you up something super cool and custom just for you!” 

“What is the meaning of this?! I have no intention of designing a simple tattoo!” Yusuke defended himself. Ann didn’t have a bad idea though. After a small exchange Yusuke folded. “May I at least decide what I draw?” 

“No way, I won’t accept anything but a godly phoenix befitting of my godly personality.” The cleaner boasted and Akira had to resist a face palm. This guy was completely full of himself. After Yusuke expressed he’d rather draw something else, the cleaner spoke again, “making excuses now Mr. “ _Artist_ ”? Guys like you are a dime a dozen, all talk no talent.” 

“How dare you?” Yusuke gasped. That seemed to hit a sore spot. “I am not all talk! Give me a brush and paper and I will draw you your phoenix!” The cleaner snapped his fingers before his men left then brought back a large bit of baber and a brush with ink. Yusuke then knelt to the ground to start drawing. Everyone gathered around him to watch, Akira leaning on Goro as they watched.

“I’m finished.” Yusuke knelt back to show a sort of smudge of a bird. Akira wouldn’t be able to do better but he’s also seen Yusuke make much more interesting things. Was he making something simple because of time or because he was being fighty?

“Dude, is that gunna be good enough?” Ryuji questioned with a frown.

“Gotta hope so.” Akira mumbled as the cleaner came over to inspect. They were trying to avoid a fight but he felt pretty sure they would have to fight again anyway. This was an amusing pause before a battle at least.

“This is my perception of a phoenix.” Yusuke stood back up as the others complained quietly. 

“I ain’t seen nothing like this before,” the cleaner picked up the paper to look it over, “I like it!” 

“Thank you.” Yusuke looked rather proud of himself. “May I request a letter of introduction?” 

“On one condition, be my personal tattoo artist from here on out.” The cleaner demanded. Yusuke of course declined so the cleaner denied the letter. Here was the fight then.

“I must decide my own path as an artist. I will not accept any aid from others.” Yusuke explained flatly before anyone could actually get ready to fight. “Now if you understand please hand over the letter.” Yusuke really was trying, bless his heart, Akira just wanted to give him a hug for trying as hard as he did. “If not we’ll just have to take it by force. By the way, you’re more a feral pigeon than a phoenix.” That was a good insult.

Of course that pissed off the cleaner and yet another fight broke out, the fight wasn’t easy and by the time they forced him back into human form the cleaner didn’t even look phased. If anything he looked amused. “You punks are tough! I like that!” He laughed. “Since you got some backbone I’ll give you a letter. Normally, I’d have to _clean_ you guys up for messing around the ship but there’s not really any point now.” The cleaner pulled an envelope out of his pocket to pass to Yusuke.

“No point?” Goro questioned.

“This place ain’t going to last much longer if strong fighters like you are around. Time for me to mosey. The captain was great and all but he can go down with his ship on his own.” The cleaner explained. “See ya later kids.” The cleaner faded out before they could tell him to do anything.

“That was… odd.” Yusuke said, looking at the letter. “So we need one more.”

“Right,” Goro nodded, “now that we have this we can focus on the researcher and the cognitive me.” 

“So we’re going to have to fight you.” Akira muttered. 

“I’ll be fine.” Goro assured him. “Just focus on me instead, okay?” 

“I know. Hopefully it turns into something that doesn’t look like you...” Akira nodded. “Let’s try and find that lab now.” 

The group made their way back out of the security room through the engine room Goro paused to turn up and look at something. Akira followed his gaze but found nothing in sight. “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing…” Goro turned away. “I just thought that there was something there. Since you know, no one ever looks up in rooms like this.” Goro teased with a smirk. “If it were me I would have hid up there to ambush you so I wondered if my cognition would be up there, but then I remember that Shido knows nothing about me.” 

“Nerd.” Akira teased Goro before he took his hand to continue forward to find the lab.

Again finding the lab was not an easy task. It was kept well hidden within the ship which Goro supposed was due to the fact that Shido was trying to keep the cognitive research as secret as possible. 

“He’s done a good job hiding it if that’s the deal.” Ryuji complained as he leaned against a wall. “This is a load of horse shit.” 

“Without the last letter we’re screwed,” Akira put his hands in his pocket to lean on the wall as well,” maybe we need to find--” 

The pressure from Akira’s lean combined with Ryuji’s was enough for the wall to give way. There was a split second where Akira thought that water was going to rush in but when he tried to push off to get away from it the wall fell back into open space with him and Ryuji still on it. Without anything to grab onto Ryuji and Akira both ended up falling through the new hole in the wall to land on the slab of metal that had hidden the passage.

They rode that slab of metal down to the bottom of the steps making as much noise as possible until they reached the wall and crashed into it with a loud BANG. “OW!” Akira shouted after they slammed into a wall to stop moving.

“Are you all right?!” Goro called from the top of the stairs.

“Maybe? Are you still my boyfriend?” Akira shouted back, earning a groan from Ryuji.

“Stupid joke and a shitty trap.” Ryuji pushed himself to sit up as the party rushed down to meet them. “Look at that,” Ryuji pointed next to him toward a white hallway, “think that’s the lab?” 

“I think so.” Akira pulled himself up to stand when Goro offered a hand to him. “Well that was a wild trip down but it looks like we've found what we needed by dumb luck.”

“What happened to that third eye of yours?” Goro teased once he was sure that Akira wasn’t hurt. 

“Ryuji’s butt was blocking it.” Akira teased as well before helping Ryuji stand. “I’d say let’s be quiet but there’s no way that they didn’t hear us.”

“Be on guard.” Goro suggested before everyone grew tense and they made their way into the white tiled hall. As they approached the double doors leading inside everyone exchanged a tense look before Akira and Goor jointly kicked the doors open.

Inside was a large room like an operating room suite. There were more doors on the other end of the room but before any attention could be given to that all eyes were drawn to the center of the room where two figures stood waiting. One was Goro, the other was a man with short black hair, a lab coat, and no other remarkable features.

“So you’ve come,” the man spoke as the cognitive Goro put a hand against his hip to sneer, “I’m disappointed in you Akechi-kun, we worked so hard to make you the perfect soldier and you turn against us? Shido-san would be very upset.”

“I don’t give a shit what Shido thinks.” Goro snapped. “Where’s Wakaba Ishiki’s research?!” 

“Mom’s research?” Futaba questioned but Goro didn’t answer.

“I know where it is, but I won’t let you have it.” The researcher laughed while taking out a gun. At the sight of it everyone drew their weapons. “You see this? Interesting device we came across when we worked with the Kirijo Group. It’s completely harmless in reality but in this place it can unleash your true power. Well, with some of the modifications we’ve done to it. Akechi-kun, if you would.” 

“He’s pretty aware of the fact he’s just a shadow isn’t he?” Ryuji muttered as cognitive Goro took the gun with a twisted grin. “What’s going to happen?” 

“A fight.” Goro muttered watching the cognition point the gun at them first. 

“Tell me Akechi,” the cognition spoke to his original, “is doing this worth it? You make Shido-san confess and you’ll go down with him. All your fame will dry up and people will find out what a fake you are, how you’ve always just been playing a part given to you. Is that satisfying to you?” 

“You don’t know the first thing about what I find satisfying!” Goro snapped. “Being loved has more meaning to me than feeling needed by strangers.”

“Love?” The cognition sneered. “What a useless thing to care about. There’s only winning and losing in life. If you claim love is why you betrayed your own father, then perhaps you should have been dealt with much sooner.” 

“Fa--Shido knew?!” Morgana questioned. 

“Of course he knew, some kid with amazing cognitive powers just falls in his lap for no reason? It couldn’t have been more obvious you were the son of that whore.” Cognitive Goro lowered the gun as Goro himself twitched to reach for his. “He was glad to get some use out of you at least, better use than that daughter he made. What a disappointment she turned out to be. Nothing special about her at all.” 

“Daughter?” Haru questioned. That was the first they’d heard of a daughter but at the same time there wasn’t really any reason to know about one. Shido had discarded his son so why not a daughter too? “Does Shido just think of his own children as puppets?!” 

“That’s right. He made them, they’re his to manipulate, if he finds them useful at least. He didn’t think they could be until you came along.” Cognitive Goro motioned at the original. “It seems as though that’s where the usefulness ended however. His child with Ishiki was nothing but a disappointment.” 

“I-Ishiki?” Akira questioned looking from Goro who had stiffened at these words then to Futaba who was completely still. 

“What did you just say?” Futaba questioned, barely speaking above a whisper. “What do you mean Ishiki?”

“Wakaba Ishiki.” The researcher spoke now. “She was showing promise as a brilliant researcher and Shido wanted to keep her close in case she made any… useful discoveries.” There was a pause as these words settled sickly in Akira’s stomach. “And she did. It was worth putting up with Ishiki’s incessant bitching about him accepting his daughter. The smartest thing Shido did was cut romantic ties with her and keep her on a string to keep up her research.” 

“Is he telling the truth?!” Futaba shouted at Goro now. 

“I--I knew something about it.” Goro admitted. “I didn’t want to say anything without proof--”

“Just shut uuuup!” Cognitive Goro shouted. “You’ll have all the time in the world to talk once you’re in Hell! The time has come to put you to the axe for all your crimes, Goro Akechi. You have a special place reserved in Hell for your crimes, your _sins_.” The cognitive double turned the gun on himself, putting it against his head. “There’ll be nothing left of you once I’m finished!” 

“He’s going to shoot himself?” Yusuke questioned as the researcher laughed and ran into the room on the other end of the suite. 

“We don’t know what it does, be on your toes!” Akira ordered before the trigger was pulled. The cognition staggered from the force but didn’t fall over. Whatever had been in the gun made a sound like shattering glass and left no blood.

Akira was trying to figure out what happened when he felt a sudden shift in the room as wind began to pick up out of nowhere. He wasn’t sure but Akira had to guess that this cognition was pulling power to himself. What the fuck was that gun?

Dozens of shadows began to appear in the room only to be swept up in the draw of the power the cognition was absorbing. Soon, cognition was swallowed in black smoke that covered his body and then began to grow. After a minute of resisting getting pulled into the cyclone it stopped then blew out in the other direction.

Once the gust past them, the party looked on in horror at the creature the cognition turned into. It had four muscular arms with guns in three hands and a large piece of steel in the other. He still maintained two normal looking legs sans the fact that they had doubled in bulk. The body was covered in torn clothing in a shabby semblance of Goro’s school uniform showing muscle under the ripped fabric. On the cognition’s face however, was a blue mask with the roman numeral XIII etched into the forehead. 

“What the FUCK?!” Ryuji shouted. 

“It’s almost as big as how Futaba saw her mother.” Makoto gasped. 

“Everyone focus, we kill this one!” Goro shouted, drawing his gun to start the fight.

Once they started the gimmick became clear. Each hand trained on a single target and would not let up on it unless a weakness was hit. However the weaknesses changed often. Akira was glad he’d taken all that training from Kasumi as he dodged the steel piece over and over again. Yusuke was able to use his immunity to ice to block one attack before sending out his own to freeze one arm completely. 

The fight was impossibly long and difficult. They should have rested before this but there would have been no way to predict this happening. Akira was starting to feel the drag of the long day when one of the shadow’s arms whipped around to knock him across the room into the wall. His head snapped back to bang hard against a wall making him see stars and causing his ears to ring.

Akira was trying to shake off the dizziness when he felt the ground under him shaking. When he looked up at last the cognition had two arms raised up over it’s head joined together in order to slam down on him. With just the size of them it could crush him to dust. Akira raised his hands as if it would help block the attack but it never came.

“TEAR IT APART, LOKI!” Goro’s voice tore through his ringing ears before the fused cognition suddenly flew across the room into the other wall with a loud thud. When Akira looked up to see what had saved him he was met with a somehow familiar form of a black and white striped persona. Where had he seen this persona before?

“Are you alright?” Morgana ran to his side to cast a heal. “What is that thing?” 

“Crow’s,” Akira stood after Morgana’s heal took,” second persona.” He’d seen it in Sae’s palace before. When the cat-like shadow had almost caught him outside the elevator.

“It’s insanely strong.” Morgana stared in awe as Loki stabbed the fused cognition over and over before summoning curse energy to hit it again before retreating back to Goro. When Akira looked at his boyfriend, his mask had changed to the black one he’d put on in Mementos. His clothes were still the white outfit but his mask was different.

“Are you okay?!” Goro shouted at him. 

“Y-yeah!” Akira confirmed before summoning the Thanatos persona he’d gained from the twins for beating his hanahaki. 

When the cognition finally fell and reverted to a human shape Goro was on top of it with a gun pointed to it’s head. “Going to kill yourself are you?” The cognition laughed before it broke into a cough. “You don’t have the guts.” 

“I said it before, you don’t know anything about me, _Shido_.” Goro muttered before pulling the trigger to kill the cognition at long last. Once it faded away Goro’s mask shifted back to the red one as everyone closed in around Goro to talk to him. “We need to follow the researcher.” 

“Hey! What was he talking about with my mom?!” Futaba grabbed one of Goro’s tailcoats as he tried to move on. 

“That’s…” Goro looked to the side.

“Tell me!” Futaba demanded. “NOW!” 

“Futaba-” Akira stepped forward, “let’s get the letter first?” 

“I want to know!” Futaba ignored Akira and refused to let Goro move. 

Goro took a deep breath before he let it out through his nose. “Okay.” Goro nodded and only then did Futaba let go of his coat. “I started helping Shido gain power two and a half years ago, but I came to him much sooner than that.” Goro nervously played with his gloves. “When I first met Shido he had a few psiencist already working for him. They were testing people’s cognitive abilities and I happened to do quite well. They were trying to see what they could do to influence people to vote how they wanted. Because of my affinity for their research I was admitted into it as a subject and the one in charge of my testing was Wakaba Ishiki.”

“My mom actually worked for Shido?” Futaba asked. She sounded mildly horrified and Akira couldn’t blame her. 

“For a time yes,” Goro confirmed, “while she worked with Shido she kept her private life secret, but as time passed she started to share with me. She told me about her daughter and how we were close in age. She told me about how much her daughter liked Featherman like me and hoped we’d get along. Then I overheard them arguing one day. Her daughter was sick and she needed time to care for her. Shido told her the research was more important than a child. 

“She got mad at him and said he should care more about his daughter even if he wanted nothing to do with her life.” Goro slowly looked up to Futaba. “After that I started to talk with your mother to get her to tell me more about you. I thought about telling her I was Shido’s son too, but every time I just about got the nerve to do it, Shido was there.”

“I don’t know what I would have gained from it, but I wanted to try telling her. Then one day she was gone.” Goro looked solemn. “From our conversations I knew she wanted to use her work with Shido to help people not push them around. She had someone else outside she was working with on the side, and they were planning to release their data once they had a significant breakthrough. It was because of that that Shido decided it was time to use me.” 

“So that’s when you came for my mom.” Futaba looked troubled.

“Yes. I had never done it before and the Metaverse was something I still didn’t understand. I wanted more than anything to not kill her even though Shido told me to.” Goro explained. “From things your mother had taught me I knew it was possible to just put someone to sleep, but it was my first mission and I couldn’t do it right. In the end, Shido got what he wanted. Even if it wasn’t in the way he expected. I poured myself into studying everything your mother left me so I could safely shut people down and not kill them. It was too late for her but I could save someone else. I’m just… so sorry I couldn’t do it for her.” 

“So… you’re my half brother…” Futaba looked away for a minute to think before pointing. “I still won’t forgive you! You should have told me sooner, you know?” 

“I know. I just didn’t think you would believe me.” Goro sighed. “I never intended to turn it into something to force forgiveness. For all intents and purposes we were strangers until this July but I felt like I needed to tell you. You’ve been lied to and had secrets kept from you enough in your life. I just wanted you to have all the facts.”

Futaba fell silent for a long time, Akira couldn’t blame her for feeling overwhelmed with this. He just hoped she would respond soon. There was no time for them to be waiting. The researcher could get away. “This is too much bullshit for one day… We’ll talk more later.” Futaba muttered then began to make her way toward the doors the researcher had vanished through. 

Inside they found an empty room with a cowardly man standing in the middle nearly pissing himself as he held the letter out for Goro to take. Once Goro had it in his hands Akira stepped forward. He wanted to give this a try. “You’re going to go back to yourself and release all of the research you have on cognitive psience to the public. If you don’t, Shido’s the least of your worries. Understand?” 

“Y-yes!” The researcher squeaked before he faded away like the rest.

“That’s all the letters.” Akira turned to the team. “Do we test the doors or rest?” 

“Let’s just peek inside,” Ann suggested. “If there’s a lot of people inside we can check back tomorrow.” 

“Yes, I’m sure we’re close to his treasure now.” Yusuke agreed.

“Okay, let’s go take a look.” Ryuji adjusted his coat with a grin then led the party out until Goro and Akira were left alone. 

“That persona you have,” Akira said, “Loki was it? You used it before in Sae’s palace didn’t you?” 

“That’s right.” Goro admitted with a surprised look. “I didn’t realize you had seen it. I thought I was careful… I was scared you were about to get hurt and it just kind of came out without my intention.”

“I don’t know a lot of Norse mythology but Loki is a trickster god, right?” Akira folded his arms. “We really were meant for one another.” 

“Why do you say that?” Goro raised his eyebrow.

“I’ll explain it to you later, we should catch up.” Akira motioned for Goro to give him his hand, which Goro compiled then followed Akira to meet up with the others.

The party returned to the representative chamber to put the letters, now turned keycards, into the slots to open the doors. As the golden doors swung open to an elevator the team cautiously decided to ride it to find out where it was going. 

Once the doors to the elevator opened they were finally in the chamber proper; however, there was not a soul in sight. Haru questioned the validity of this being the assembly hall to which Makoto explained about daruma being a sign of good luck in elections.

“Weren’t there people just voting?” Ann questioned as they walked in a bit. Akira could see the hazy shape of Shido’s treasure floating above the podium.

“This is Shido’s cognition,” Goro said looking around at all the empty seats, “the only real vote that matters is his. Everyone else may as well be empty seats.” Goro looked down to the treasure. “I think we’ve secured our route.” 

“Agreed.” Makoto agreed. “All that’s left now is to send out the calling card.” 

“And we’ll make it the most epic card yet!” Futaba grinned. “Make sure you all come to Leblanc bright and early tomorrow. Even you Akechi. We’re going to make sure Shido knows he’s been completely played!” 

“I’ll be there.” Goro agreed.

“Good, let’s head home for now and get a good rest in.” Morgana suggested. “We’ll make the calling card tomorrow, and then send it on the 27th. Everyone clear?” 

“Yep!” Ann smiled brightly. “We’re going to make sure the world sees what kind of person Shido really is.” 

“Damn right.” Ryuji whooped and then the party left.

Same as the day before they left in pairs and singles until it was just Morgana, Akira, and Goro left. “You sure you didn’t want to go with Oracle or Noir?” Akira looked down at Morgana.

“Nah,” Morgana shook his head, “whatever happens from here on out I said I was going to stick right with you. Even if you two are being gross and lovey-dovey. I’ll tough it out, and also just stay out of your room when it comes to that.” 

“We’ll get you a nice bed,” Goro promised before looking somber. “I wonder if she hates me more now.” 

“Futaba? I doubt it.” Akira shook his head. “I can’t imagine what she’s going through right now. Finding out Shido not only got with her mom but is also her dad, which makes you her half brother, all in one day? That’s rough.”

“I expected to have to work harder to find the proof.” Goro sighed. “I just hope she realizes that I really just wanted her to know the truth. I don’t expect a change in her perception of me.”

“She knows.” Morgana assured Goro. “She said she wanted to talk to you still, so maybe after we change Shido’s heart you two can have a real heart to heart about, well, everything.” 

“I hope so.” Goro sighed. “I’ll go on ahead and meet you at my place. You remember how to get there?” 

“Yep.” Akira grinned. “Travel safe.” 

“I’ll see you soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiiii! so i did the thinnnng. i'm a fan of the idea of futaba and goro being siblings. it might be something i use again in another fic some other day. anyway, i feel like i could have done the fight with the cognitive akechi better but combat is not a huge important part of this fic so... meh. i might already be planning my next big fic and it's kind of exciting. thank you all for reading this so far and as we get closer to the end I hope you still continue to enjoy it! <3
> 
> preview:
> 
> _**prolly WILL stab you** : Before we end the chat, Akira please change our names._  
>  _**prolly not dying anymore** : ?_  
>  _**prolly WILL stab you** : I am exhausted and uncreative and I hate them._  
>  _**prolly not dying anymore** : got it. hmmm._  
> 
> 
> _**prolly not dying anymore has changed Goro’s name to DADDY.** _
> 
> **_prolly not dying anymore_ ** _: 💦💦💦_   
>  **_DADDY:_ ** _NO._   
>  _**prolly not dying anymore** : COWARD._   
>  _**DADDY** : Change it or I’m leaving._   
>  _**tiny pizza table** : i actually hate this…_   
>  _**tiny pizza table** : and i love chaotic shit like this._   
>  _**prolly not dying anymore** : fine._   
> 


	32. i changed my boyfriend’s dad’s heart and all i got was this stupid tee-shirt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's time to change shido's heart, but before doing that akira has something he wants goro to agree to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have a job interview on thursday~

_** STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _7:32pm:_ **T & Tea __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**T & Tea:** We finally got into the assembly hall. All that’s left now is to make the calling card.  
 **tiny pizza table** : right. we’re going to go into mementos tomorrow for it.  
 **Pixar Mom** : Mementos?  
 **banana_hammock** : we gotta make it a really major show!  
 **my gf is hotter than urs** : yeah! so how are we doing it?  
 **tiny pizza table** : i asked jose for a little help since he’s such a fan of akira’s.  
 **tiny pizza table** : and he knows how mementos works. it’s all planned out.  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : sounds good. what time should we be there?  
 **tiny pizza table** : as soon as school is over for the day.  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad** : Are we meeting at Leblanc first?  
 **tiny pizza table** : no. i changed my mind. we’ll just meet in mementos right away.  
 **tiny pizza table** : meet around the entrance.  
 **prolly WILL stab you** : Akira you should go ahead without me.  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** whyyyyy?  
 **prolly WILL stab you:** I need to meet with Shido first. He called me after I left the Metaverse to talk to me about dealing with possible traitors. I managed to talk him down from wanting results right now but he’s certainly suspicious.  
 **prolly WILL stab you:** I’m worried that what we did in his palace is having an effect on him already. He knows about the Metaverse and palaces so he might start to think that you guys are acting without Akira.  
 **prolly not dying anymore:** so then he might start wanting to pick off everyone else before we change his heart if you don’t calm him down?  
 **prolly WILL stab you** : Precisely. I need to direct his attention away from that before I can join you. More so because he started asking if I knew anything about Wakaba’s daughter and where she was.  
 **tiny pizza table** : … shit.  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : if we have to we’ll prepare the card without you. we’re sending it tomorrow no matter what.  
 **prolly WILL stab you:** Please do. If I’m not there by four just do it. We don’t have a lot of time to wait.  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : everyone clear on that?  
 **Pixar Mom** : Yes.  
 **T & Tea**: Got it!  
 **Bob Ross is my Dad** : We’ll create the best calling card we’ve ever made.  
 **banana_hammock** : shido won’t know what hit him.  
 **tiny pizza table** : one more time guys!  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : good. get some sleep and we’ll get this started tomorrow.  
 **prolly WILL stab you** : Before we end the chat, Akira please change our names.  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : ?  
 **prolly WILL stab you** : I am exhausted and uncreative and I hate them.  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : got it. hmmm.  


**prolly not dying anymore has changed Goro’s name to DADDY.**

**prolly not dying anymore** : 💦💦💦  
 **DADDY:** NO.  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : COWARD.  
 **DADDY** : Change it or I’m leaving.  
 **tiny pizza table** : i actually hate this…  
 **tiny pizza table** : and i love chaotic shit like this.  
 **prolly not dying anymore** : fine.  


**prolly not dying anymore has changed Goro’s name to GoroKurusu.**

**prolly not dying anymore changed Akira’s name to AkiraAkechi.**

**GoroKurusu** : Terrible. Thank you.  
 **AkiraAkechi** : i think it’s perfect.  
 **T & Tea:** It’s cute!  
 **tiny pizza table** : i’m gagging again. bye.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Once the chat closed Akira rolled off of Goro’s bed to make his way to the kitchen where he found his boyfriend leaning against the counter staring at his phone. Akira paused to smile at Goro’s relaxed attire. He really appreciated the ponytail and joggers look. It was something he would never get enough of if he was honest and he was probably too happy to know he was the only one who got to see this. “What’s up?” 

“Futaba wants me to talk with her tomorrow once I’m free. She said even if I don’t make it to the calling card she wants to speak.” Goro said, putting his phone away. “I don’t exactly blame her, I’m just surprised she wants to talk alone.” 

“So I should probably just go back to Leblanc after we’re done tomorrow?” Akira questioned as he pulled himself up to sit on the kitchen counter.

“I’m sorry.” Goro offered a small smile. “After we’re done with Shido we can spend time together again.” 

“In between you actually spending time with the others too right?” Akira questioned with an amused smile. 

“How--?” 

“A thief never reveals his sources.” Akira grinned as he adjusted his glasses with his middle finger. “Anyway, I’m not going to shame you for it. I think it’s a good thing. You should spend time with everyone and get to really know them now that you’re not trying to secretly kill someone.” 

“It wasn’t something I started to do on purpose.” Goro sighed as he reached back to pull out his hair tie and let his hair fall back into place. Akira pouted at the sight of it but let Goro continue rather than complain. “Ann started hanging out with me back in June then everyone else kind of trickled in. I feel like they all started to get closer after Sae’s palace, aside from Futaba at least. Like, now that the truth was out it was time to really get to know me or something.” 

“Sounds like you’ve been working on those confidants like me.” Akira teased as he stepped forward to run his hands through Goro’s hair.

“Like you do?” Goro raised an eyebrow. He seemed content to let Akira touch him however he wanted. “I didn’t see the point of it but I guess it’s useful in earning trust for battle or whatever.”

“Something like that I guess. You’ll know you’re doing it right when everyone you spend more than a few days with suddenly figures out you’re a Phantom Thief.” Akira let his hands trail down the sides of Goro’s neck to his arms until he was holding his hands.

“I haven’t tried to make any meaningful relationships outside of the Phantom Thieves but if I ever did I would do my best not to be found out.” Goro said flatly before he pulled Akira closer to give him a kiss.

“I did my best too. Sometimes things just happen.” Akira shrugged after they separated. They stood together in the kitchen for a few minutes before Akira asked. “Are you going to be okay?” 

“In regards to Shido?” 

“More or less.”

Goro took a deep breath before leaning forward to rest his head on Akira’s shoulder. “I want to say yes but I don’t know. Getting my revenge on Shido has been such a driving force in my life for so long that thinking it’s almost over is… unsettling. Beyond that I don’t know what I am going to do. All I know is that I have you and that I need to atone for what I’ve done.” Goro sighed through his nose.

“You said before you would turn yourself in. Have you thought of a different route?”

“I have to turn myself in.” Goro pulled back to look at Akira. “They’ll come for me one way or another.” 

“What if we changed the narrative?” Akira asked. 

“What do you mean?” 

“You said that others would try to do it. So why can’t we? We can tell Shido to do at least one good fatherly thing in his life by accepting all responsibility himself. Leave you out of it. Sae-san said she owed me a favor. Why can’t this be it?” Akira explained something he’d been thinking about for weeks now. 

“Someone still needs to corroborate his confession.” Goro shook his head. “I’ll turn myself in and--”

“I’ll do it.” Akira cut in. 

“What?” Goro looked almost as if he had been smacked.

“I’ll turn myself in instead to corroborate his confession.” Akira explained. “Shido will confess to everything that he’s done, and as a Phantom Thief I can offer my testimony. Including the bogus assault he filed against me--” 

“That doesn’t mean you’ll be released after. Getting a conviction overturned needs definitive proof and Shido kept his name out--” 

“I never killed anyone.” Akira cut Goro off again. “I bet with Sae-san’s help I’ll get released in no time. Whatever time I get would be nothing compared to yours.” 

“Akira, I can’t let you do something so reckless.” Goro pulled away from his boyfriend with a frown. 

“You’re not _letting_ me. I’m _going_ to do it.” Akira said firmly. “Goro, if you end up in prison and I never get to touch you again… You realize hanahaki relapses can happen years after it’s cleared? I actually looked stuff up after. It’s terrifying...” 

“That’s not fair.” Goro glared at Akira. “You can’t just hang that over my head--”

“You don’t have to be a martyr.” Akira explained touching Goro’s face to try and make him relax.

“You don’t have to either!” Goro snapped as he slipped Akira’s hand away.

“One of us does. You made that clear. After going through what I did I wouldn’t put anyone else on the team near a cop. I’ve already survived them once.” Akira shook his head with a smile. “You know one of us has to go in, and between us I’m the most likely to walk out.” 

“After what you went through you’re willing to walk back into a police station? You’re an idiot.” Goro sneered. If it were anyone else Akira might have gotten upset but he knew his boyfriend. He was getting prickly because he was trying to protect Akira but he knew that to really protect them both Akira made the most sense now.

“An idiot in love with you.” Akira placed his other hand on the other side of Goro’s face and when Goro didn’t smack it away he put the other back as well. “I’m going to do this for you because I love you.” 

“You know, my mother sacrificed herself because she _loved_ me too.” Goro said bitterly.

“She did, but I’m going to come back to you,” Akira placed a kiss on Goro’s forehead, "and then we can start our own lives,” he placed another kiss on his cheek, "together. Without the shadow of someone else trying to pull us apart.” He then placed a kiss on Goro’s lips as he let his hands slide back along his neck to his shoulders to hold the kiss for a few seconds before separating their lips but keeping their foreheads pressed together. “How’s that sound?” 

“You’re very charming.” Goro muttered his lips forming what Akira could only describe as a pout. “I still can’t just agree to this you know?” 

“I do.” Akira released Goro. “So I guess we’ll just have to wait and see who between us wins.”

Goro looked off to the side for a long time. He looked like he was very deep in thought before he reached out to take Akira’s hand and pull him toward the bedroom. “Let’s sleep.” 

“It’s still early.” Akira complained. “You sound like Mona.”

“Then let’s just enjoy one another’s company.” Goro dismissed his previous suggestion as he dragged Akira into the bedroom to pull him down onto the bed before he explained almost shyly. “I want to enjoy what we have while we can.” 

“You’ve got me all to yourself Detective Goro Akechi-san,” Akira smiled as he crawled into bed to hold Goro, "and you will continue to have me for as long as you want me.”

“You’re a hopeless romantic.” Goro scoffed before adjusting them until he had Akira’s head under his chin. “If I let you do this, we need to discuss it with Sae-san first. I need to know you’ll be able to get out.” 

“I can make that deal,” Akira turned his head up to kiss Goro’s neck, "first thing is first though, changing Shido’s heart.” 

“Right.” Goro let out a sigh. “I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

_________________________________________________________

The streets of Shibuya were as busy as ever on a cold Sunday evening. People walked around on dates, or returning home from work as the news played in the background. No one really paid it any attention, the news of the Phantom Thieves was old and attention spans were short. However, as the news caster spoke about the leader of the Phantom Thieves dying in police custody the broadcast began to stutter and fizz out to a snowy screen with the Phantom Thieves’ logo imposed over the noise. 

Distorted voices began to speak over the sign as the volume increased to overtake the entire sector and draw everyone’s attention. Ryuji’s distorted voice was first, “Yo! What is UP, everybody!” 

“We are the ones who you all know as the Phantom Thieves.” A different voice, Yusuke’s, spoke before Ryuji spoke again, “and ALL of us are alive and kickin’.”

People in the middle of the road stopped to look up at the largest of screens while people on the sidewalk paused to watch smaller TVs on display which had been taken over as well, the message played on every station and no matter what shop owners tried, short of shutting them off, the message played. 

“Those in power have been manipulating information to try hiding the truth, but we’re done playing by their rules.” Goro’s distorted voice spoke as the icon changed to a strange cat.

“So, before we single out our next target,” Ann announced with more than a little glee in her wobbled voice, “we would like to first borrow your time!” 

“The recent scandals of public figures, the accidents caused by psychotic breakdowns, mental shutdowns, and even sudden comas and related deaths were not caused by unknown reasons.” Goro explained as people spoke among themselves as the screen continued to display the round cat icon. 

“One man is behind everything,” Haru took a turn now, “simply to satisfy his own greed.”

“That man was afraid his crimes would be exposed and so he shifted the blame onto us.” Makoto explained. “He even manipulated the police and his own children for his selfish gains.” 

“We only steal the hearts of criminals,” Akira took a turn, “we have never killed and we never will.” 

“Yeah! But this asshole tried to dump what he did on us!” Ryuji said. “It just goes to show he doesn’t care about those victims at all!” 

“The identity of this cowardly man is someone many resp--” Goro said before the screen cut off for a moment as the police tried to block their message but after a moment the message came back to even more screens than before, “the man behind it all is a current cabinet member of all things.” 

“The Minister of State and Special Missions,” Akira spoke before Shido’s face snapped onto the screen, “Masayoshi Shido!” The people watching gasped as a ripple of questions ripped through the throngs of people who had stopped to watch.

“Everything this man says is a lie!” Haru said.

“And to prove that,” Ann spoke next before the screen snapped to the silhouette of the team standing before a bright light, “look here! As you can see, all of us are alive and kickin’!” 

“We’re sure the people investigating us can tell if this is a lie or not~!” Futaba teased. "Shido himself will soon confess all the crimes that he’s committed. So please look forward to it, everyone!” 

“We’re not going to sit back and watch some asshole wreck this country just ‘cuz of his goddamn ego.” Ryuji explained as they flashed Shido’s face on the screen once more, this time with the round cat orb chewing on his head.

“This man can’t be trusted to run a country if he can’t even trust that his own people will really do as he says.” Goro said before the image shrank away and it was him and Akira on the screen. “Isn’t that right, darling?” Goro was making it clear who he was to Shido and that he never betrayed the one he loved. It was a nice touch.

“Yes, sweetheart,” Akira gave Goro’s cheek a quick kiss before Akira stepped forward into the light to show his masked face, “before Shido can make his move, we’ll take this country ourselves!” People in the streets began to cheer loudly. “Get ready Shido.” the screen panned out to everyone once again. “We’re coming to steal your heart and force you to confess your crimes! The Phantom Thieves of Hearts promises you that.” Once the message was over the screen cut to black and a dull roar ripped through the air between panic and cheering. 

From Station Square, Akira and Goro watched people as they slowly began to disperse talking excitedly about what was going to happen. Each of them had on a hooded sweater to hide their faces but no one was looking at them. They were too busy looking at their phones or watching for anything else that might appear on the screen. 

One by one each of the party joined them in their own casual disguises as they watched Shido’s emergency broadcast to address their calling card. “He’s panicking.” Goro smirked. “I’m sure at this time he’s probably ranting about being betrayed and demanding my head.” 

“Good luck to him.” Ryuji laughed.

“And he wants us to apologize? Quite the funny joke.” Yusuke shook his head watching the screen. “We should go right?” 

“Yes, there should be enough people out and about that they won’t notice us all moving together.” Makoto nodded. “Let’s put an end to him.” 

“I agree.” Haru looked determined before they turned to head down to the train and make their way to the Diet Building.

As Makoto said, there were hundreds of people outside of the Diet Building demanding answers. It seemed to be a mix of reporters and concerned citizens from what Akira could tell when he spotted Ohya asking a guard very forceful questions.

“I’m pleased to see our calling card has had a rather tremendous effect.” Yusuke smiled. “Very well made Futaba.” 

“Thanks. I’m rather proud of myself for that one.” Futaba pushed her glasses up.

“Shouldn’t people here just go home and sleep?” Ann wondered. “This is a lot of attention for here.” 

“It's a good cover,” Morgana said. “So we can do this the most stylish way. Together!”

“Hey look,” Akira pointed as Mishima joined the crowd of people, “looks like all our fans are coming out in force tonight.”

“There might not be many of them but we have to cherish the ones we’ve got.” Morgana rested heavily on Akira’s shoulder. “Let’s go change Shido’s heart!”

“Right! We can head in here right?” Ann questioned. “No one will notice us vanish out of a crowd this big.” 

“Yes, we should get in close so we don’t accidentally pull anyone else along.” Haru hooked her arm with Ann before they all joined together.

“Let’s go.” Goro took his phone out with his one free arm before Futaba latched to it. He paused to look down at her as she gave him a firm nod. Their talk must have gone well. “To hell with Shido and his plans.” Goro flashed her a smile which she returned. “We’ll reform society before he can destroy it.” 

“Right.” Akira agreed before Goro hit the button to start their navigation into Shido’s palace once more. Once inside the party was met with the sight of fireworks in the air and the feeling of oppressive air all around them. “Looks like he’s trying to celebrate an early victory.” 

“ **Our** victory you mean.” Ryuji made his way forward. “Let’s kick some ass!” 

The team made their way back inside to the elevator and back up to the chamber where they’d seen Shido’s hazy heart before. As they walked into the room they could see the treasure turned into a large golden wheel circling overhead and Shido himself stood near the prime minister’s spot at the front.

“This is over Shido, just step down and let us take your treasure!” Goro demanded angrily before his lips turned into a smirk, “or don’t. I wouldn’t mind beating the shit out of you before changing your heart anyway.”

“Akechi… you treacherous little bastard.” Shido turned to them. “I nurtured you and your power and this is how I’m repaid?” 

“Don’t give me that shit Shido!” Goro shouted. “You only cared about your victory and nothing else! If you had acted like a real father you might have stood a chance!” 

“Tch, you’re just like that whore mother of yours. Demanding and demanding without thinking once about how reality works.” Shido put his hands in his pockets. Akira watched out of the corner of his eye as Goro visibly stiffened. “I had thought you’d be a good child and roll over dead like your mother, or at least shut up like Ishiki’s kid.”

“Don’t you dare talk about my mom!” Futaba shouted. 

“Oh, you’re her then? I’d say I can’t believe you two found one another but then again trash gathers in the same place doesn’t it?” Shido laughed. “The next child I make I’ll have to make sure to groom it correctly from the start.” 

“I doubt anyone would want to willingly make a kid with scum like you!” Ryuji growled. 

“As if they have to be willing.” Shido scoffed, causing Haru to gasp loudly in disgust. 

“How dare you?!” Ann screamed next. “You’re just a monster in human skin!” 

“Whatever,” Shido looked at Goro, “you were planning to try and trap me all this time weren’t you? Get close to me, learn my secrets, then display it to the world? You should have acted sooner. Before you killed people, you know if I go down you will as well? Retreat and I’ll think about letting you go free. So long as I never see your faces again.”

“Fuck you!” Goro seethed. “You’ve been manipulating me all my life and I’m through being your goddamn puppet!” 

“Don’t say I didn’t try to save you.” Shido sighed turning toward them fully. “I was going to dispose of you after becoming prime minister anyway. The saying goes if you want something done right, do it yourself, does it not? For an ‘ace’ detective you certainly couldn’t see past the praise to realize I was planning to kill you from the start.” 

“You…” Goro’s hands balled into fists as he shook, “my mother died for someone like you?” 

“Please. I just showed that idiot woman a little affection and she was stumbling over herself for love. It’s not my fault she couldn’t use her brain. Not like Ishiki, but then she never saw me sending a child to kill her.” 

“You… you took everything from us!” Futaba slammed her foot into the ground in her own rage. “You stole my mom’s research and then took her life--” 

“You can look to your dear older brother for that blame.” Shido waved off.

“You don’t get to put your decisions on others!” Futaba screamed. “Goro might have been the gun but you turned him into it, and then you pulled the trigger! I won’t let you use him or anyone else for your selfish gains ever again!” 

“Everything you’ve done has brought pain on everyone around you!” Haru took her own turn. “Because of you my father is dead and I too will not allow you to carry on unpunished!” 

“Ugh, are you all going to take a turn telling me your sob stories?” Shido rolled his eyes. “Sacrifices are inevitable on the path to reformation. Those who do not entrust themselves to me as their superior will undoubtedly fall under my heel. I will guide this country to it’s salvation.” 

“You’re no better than anyone else!” Ryuji barked. “You’re lower than the trash you claim we are!” 

“You never would have gotten this far without Goro-kun’s help!” Ann shouted. “And the fact you knew he was your son but you used him anyway makes you the worst.”

“He only came into being because I granted him that honor.” Shido pushed his glasses up. “God granted him the powers I needed in order to gain my place and with my guiding hand Akechi was able to properly use his power. He’d be nothing but a dirty orphan still if not for me.” 

“All you did was turn me into a murderer!” Goro shouted. “I never wanted to hurt people!” 

“I know. As weak as you are, you were still effective. There were so many people I had to have cleaned up after you inflicted comas on them.” Shido groaned annoyed at the memory. “I let you get away with it for a while. It was easier to kill people in their sleep after all.” 

“You… no…” Goro turned pale, “how many?”

“Basically all of them. It was easy to keep them out of the media.” Shido laughed. “I needed them removed permanently and it was much cheaper to keep a few medical staff on the payroll to overlook test results that stated causes of death. Changing of hearts is nothing more than provoking panic. I removed problems entirely.” 

“You--you bastard!” Ryuji shouted. 

“You selfish man!” Yusuke finally snapped. “You were unable to win by honest means, so you used deadly tricks to ascend the political ladder!” 

“A cruel and heartless person like you has no right to lead this country.” Makoto glared at Shido with closed fists. “You’re nothing but a criminal who abused his children and stepped on people to climb a staircase of death!”

“The life of a few people does not outweigh the life of millions. There’s no comparison to that.” Shido shook his head. “I suppose children can’t be expected to understand that the needs of the many are much more important than that of the few. The ignorant masses only care what’s good for their own joy. I’m merely giving them what they desire.” 

“You’re sick.” Goro hissed. 

“I am a messenger chosen by God to enact true social reform!” Shido raised his hands out. “I was given my power and chosen to become prime minister to see this mission through to the end. I will not allow a few children to stand in my way.” Shido stepped back to climb up to the prime minister’s seat.

“We’re not just children!” Akira shouted next. “We’re the Phantom Thieves of Hearts and you, prideful man of spite, Masayoshi Shido, will confess your sins with your own mouth!” 

“Useless prattle.” Shido spat. “Though I lament Akechi’s betrayal, not all of you need to die. I’ll offer one of you the honor of working for me. Doing so will spare you from death.” Shido looked down at Futaba. “How about you daughter?” 

“FUCK YOU!” Futaba shouted. “I’d rather die than ever hear you call me ‘daughter’ again you lunatic!” 

“Don’t be wasteful. Devote your power to my social reform. I’ll give you anything you want. Wealth, status, name it.” Shido tried again to convince them.

“You’re barking up the wrong tree asshole!” Ann stepped around to put herself between Shido and Futaba. “You talk to her again and I’ll whip you in the face in reality too!” 

“There’s no way any of us would follow you!” Morgana jumped up. “You can beg us on your knees and that wouldn’t change!” 

“It seems I’m wasting my breath with ignorant children.” Shido shook his head. “I thought with such an amazing gift one of you might have enough brains to obey but alas I was wrong. It is unfortunate but I have no choice. I’ll eliminate all of you right here!” Shido leaned heavily on the podium. “Even a small leak can sink a great ship. Great nations have fallen to such oversight. I shall not make such mistakes!” Shido pulled back giving the party a firm smile as cognitions of people suddenly appeared in the seats from the room. 

“What the fuck?! Where’d they come from?!” Ryuji jumped back.

“Focus!” Goro snapped. “He’s making his move!” As Goro said it, Shido's seat began to rise up and the clapping died out. From either side of them platforms of wood began to enclose just overhead. “We have to move!” 

“Up! Now!” Yusuke called as he jumped to the nearest floor closing in then to the next. As they reached the top layer they searched around for Shido as he began to speak.

“Let me make myself clear,” Akira looked up as Shido spoke while he ascended golden ‘stairs’ to sit on his ‘throne’ as black shadows enveloped his form, “I am not like my idiot son who acts with his heart and not his head. Your lives are forfeit!” As Shido turned around he was in full uniform with some strange spiked helmet on but what was sickening was the ‘lion’ he was on. It was clearly made of people.

“He’ll truly step on everyone to attain his goal.” Yusuke muttered.

“Then we’ll just have to knock him off his throne!” Akira drew his weapon. “Let’s go!” 

This fight was actually harder than the one with the cognitive Goro. Shido’s lion could take a serious beating and Shido himself was rather strong. A single hit hurt more than anything they’d been tagged by before. Nonetheless they pushed on with. Akira was grateful for the personas the twins had granted him. Whoever the previous Velvet Room guests had been, they had been strong and with them Akira and Goro were able to keep Shido’s attention while everyone else provided support and healing.

During the fight Shido’s lion began to fly so that only range attacks could reach it. Really it just meant they had to rely more on their personas. When it seemed like the lion was getting sluggish Shido began to talk again. He was still trying to convince them they should bow to his will like he was in a position to actually threaten them. 

“Shut up already! No one’s listening to you!” Ann yelled more than a little frustrated Shido was still trying to convince them.

Shido, rather than reply, had his lion curl in on itself before it turned into a small black hole. Akira wondered just for a second if Shido had killed himself before the hole expended suddenly and took the shape of a pyramid. When the black faded away the party was met with the sight of Shido’s newest golden creation. “Fuckin’ hell this guy is full of himself!” Ryuji swore.

“I could have told you that.” Goro looked mildly disgusted before he let his mask shift. He was going to use Loki. “Joker, back me up!” 

“Any time, Crow!” Akira looked around for a grapple point before deciding he was going to just use one of Shido’s spikes at the top of the pyramid.

“I’ve got your back! Get charged up and focused!” Futaba called from her persona before granting everyone a bit more support. 

With some newfound energy Akira shot his grapple to hook onto a spike then let it drag him up and forward, running his dagger along the golden bodies on his way up to the top. On his way up Goro ran along to jump and grab onto Akira around his middle to take a ride along, firing his gun at the pyramid as they circled it. Once they got to the top each of them landed on the helmet and began to fire their guns into the top. After they emptied their clips they both jumped away then summoned Loki and Arsene to use a joint curse attack causing a massive curse explosion.

From below everyone threw out their strongest attacks as well which brought Shido’s pyramid down at last leaving his lion laying on it’s side before it faded away leaving Shido on his own. “Give up?” Goro asked dangerously. Akira could sense that he was hoping Shido still hadn’t had enough yet. 

“It seems that even thieves should not be taken lightly if they come in great enough numbers,” Shido muttered before he leveled a glare right at Akira. “You’re the one unifying them, aren’t you? The useless criminal boy from the coffee shop.” 

“He’s only a criminal because you put it on him like you put blame on everyone else!” Goro snapped.

“Hm?” Shido questioned looking at Goro then eyed Akira again. “You… you’re more than just the leader of the Phantom Thieves, aren’t you?”

“You could say that,” Akira motioned with his hand to remove his mask, “in a fucked up way you created me too.” Akira glared at Shido. “This isn’t the first time you failed to finish me off. You took me to court to sue me for assault because you couldn’t risk your pride for falling on your own drunk ass!” 

“Wait… you’re the one from back then?!” Shido seemed to finally realize who Akira was. “You’re that damn brat in Inaba who showed up and stood against me when I was with that stupid woman!” Akira put his mask back on as Shido began to laugh. “I see, so this is God testing me yet again.” 

“You know dude, you need to start learnin’ how to respect women.” Ryuji should his head.

“I have no idea how anyone could fall in love with you.” Goro grumbled. His mother had, and he was probably feeling some strong resentment for that.

“It matters not,” Shido dismissed, “your efforts will be made worthless in the end. Small sacrifices are unavoidable for those wishing to be truly powerful, competent, leaders. How would you ever get to your destination if you stopped to count every ant you crushed on the road?” 

“You’re saying that the people you’ve killed deserved to die?!” Haru sounded disgusted. “You’re insane!” 

“I wouldn’t expect ignorant children, nay, the ignorant masses, to understand what must be done for this country to reach its zenith.” Shido dusted his hands. “I will show you the power needed to survive, and then I will smite you!” Shido took hold of his cape from the shoulder before pulling it off in a dramatic flash which also discarded his shirt. 

“Gross.” Akira said flatly at the image of an over muscular in spring loaded training restraints.

“He’s so full of himself!” Ann groaned with a roll of her eyes before they launched into yet another fight.

“Careful guys! He’s not just all Hulked out for a cosplay. He’s got some serious power!” Futaba warned them before Shido powered himself up even more. 

As with the last fight Shido hit hard but this time he focused his attacks on Goro. If someone else got in his way he’d actually grab them and physically throw them as far from himself as he could. It was safer to attack him from afar and avoid his attacks. When it seemed as if Shido was going to fall he started to get even more pissed off.

“Are we going to be able to knock him out safely?” Akira asked Goro once he could get a moment to stop as Shido started to groan in frustration.

“I don’t know... If we can’t then…” Goro looked to Akira. 

“We have to try. You’re not going to be a murderer anymore.” Akira touched his shoulder. 

“But--” 

“How are you lowlife brats beating ME?!” Shido screamed. “ME, WHO WAS CHOSEN BY GOD?!” 

“He’s got a real God complex. We should grab his treasure while we can and book it!” Futaba suggested before Shido began to laugh. 

“You haven’t won yet.” Shido said as he raised his arms. “My power is not to be underestimated. It’s vexing I have to use this on foolish children but nonetheless, I must not fail here.” 

“Just give it up already! You’re outnumbered and how maneuvered!” Akira shouted. 

“Outnumbered as I may be, I have decades of experience over you!” Shido pulled his arms in closer before throwing them out to break the training restraints off causing his muscles to bulge further and his skin to turn red. 

“What the fuck kind of anime bullshit is this?!” Ryuji questioned before Shido suddenly closed the gap between them to grab him by the head and throw him.

Shido wasn’t in a blind rage at just Goro anymore. He was after everyone. Morgana and Makoto were having a hell of a time trying to keep up the healing, at one point even needing to revive Yusuke after Shido nearly crushed his skull in. They continued their ranged attacks, Goro relying heavily on Loki, to try and beat Shido back when he got too close physically to Futaba. It was a much harder fight but they were winning from the way Shido was having trouble catching his breath.

“I will not lose here!” Shido yelled suddenly before he drew a fist back, gathering all of his power into his fist, then slammed it into the ground to send out a massive shockwave that pushed everyone away. 

“Hold on!” Goro grabbed Akira’s hand as he stabbed his sword into the ground to keep from being thrown like the rest. Once the force faded blue fire began to burn in a circle around the field keeping them all separated. “Shit.”

“Joker! Crow! Are you two okay?!” Futaba shouted. “We can’t get back past this wall!”

“We’re fine!” Akira called back watching Shido. They would have to finish off themselves.

“I never would have imagined that the impertinent brat from so long ago would do this much damage to my campaign. Not only did you turn my puppet against me, you’ve been a thorn in my side since your first change of heart!” Shido growled. “It’s almost laughable. I should have followed my gut and killed you when I thought of it the first time. I was too naive to think I could continue to use Akechi after you came into the picture.” 

“You lost control of me a long time ago!” Goro shouted. “There’s nothing that could have been done to stop me from turning against you, Shido! Surrender already!” 

“I’ve already won this country, all that’s left is to see my ambition fully realized!” Shido readied up another attack. “Before that, I will remove you permanently! Death is too kind for you but to be sure you’ll be out of my way I’ll grant you a swift one!” 

“As if you can!” Goro shouted then rushed at Shido. 

“Crow wait!” Akira shouted but it was too late, once Goro brought his sword around to cut Shido one of those great red hands caught his wrist and closed around it tightly making him drop his weapon. In a panic Goro reached for his mask but before he could touch it Shido caught his other hand then pulled Goro up off his feet to deliver a stunning headbutt. 

Akira felt a surge of not just panic, but rage swell from his stomach. He watched in horror as a sweaty muscled arm pressed against Goro’s neck to squeeze him lightly. “Surrender to me Akechi, and I may consider allowing you both to live.” 

“Let him go Shido!” Akira screamed. He was mad. How dare Shido do that to _his_ Goro? “If you don’t I’ll kill you and spare us all the need of a trial!” 

“Akira no--” Goro tried to speak but Shido squeezed down on his throat once again. Akira didn’t like this, he was unable to move without fear of Shido beaking Goro’s neck.

“Shut up you.” Shido squeezed again. 

“ENOUGH!” Akira snapped before summoning Arsene once more. With precision aim Akira and his persona worked in tandem. Akira aimed a shot right into Shido’s large hand holding Goro, causing him to release in a shout of pain, as Arsene dove in with it’s claw to slash across Shido’s chest while using it’s free hand to throw Goro back at Akira who caught him only for them both to fall to the ground.

Arsene kept Shido busy enough for Akira to get Goro to his feet. He was in the middle of asking if Goro was okay when Akira’s head snapped back like he’d just been punched in the face. Arsene flew past them to crash into the fiery wall then vanished as Akira’s mask cracked from the force at which his persona was destroyed. 

“Shit,” Goro motioned over his mask before switching to Robin Hood, “we have to be careful and work together. We’re almost done!” 

“Right. Sorry.” Akira adjusted his mask. It felt fragile.

Once they were both standing Akira looked to Goro and nodded before they each ran around from different directions to attack. They emptied clips of bullets into Shido before Goro summoned Robin Hood for a massive bless attack and Akira summoned Raoul for a heavy curse attack. 

The two attacks met Shido from either side causing an explosion around his body that looked somelike like an eclipse. After a few moments where the air around them stilled the joint attack collapsed in on itself crushing Shido in its gravity. After a loud cry of pain and one more flex Shido staggered, then fell forward to lay on the ground, his muscles fading away and shirt returning as he shrunk. The fire blocking the rest of the team faded to allow them to join Akira and Goro again. 

Futaba was first to rush in and delivered a swift kick to Shido’s head before Ryuji picked her up and moved her away. “Let me hit him more Ryuji! He’s the one! He’s why my mom--!” 

“It won’t make you feel better Futaba!” Ryuji refused to let her go as she flailed around. This continued until the telling sound of a gun being cocked met their ears.

Everyone looked over at Goro who had his gun pointed at Shido’s head as the man sat up slowly. “Give me a reason to do it.” Goro warned him in a deadly quiet voice.

“N-no. Please.” Shido put his hands up. 

“Goro,” Akira called to him as he stepped up to place a hand on his shoulder, “he’s not worth it.” 

“It’s… very hard not to just squeeze the trigger Akira.” Goro mumbled. “Put an end to him where none of his goons can come at us, make sure he’ll never hurt another person…” 

“That may be true, but if he dies here will he really pay his dues?” Haru questioned from behind them. “I personally want to see Shido in prison and everyone who helped him as well. Present company excluded.” 

“I have to agree.” Yusuke folded his arms. “Shido caused a great deal of harm to more than just yourself, and if he simply dies we cannot be sure that the platform he built will die with him.”

“Besides, Goro-kun, you’re better than him. You don’t have to be a murderer anymore.” Ann steeped up next to him as well with a smile. 

“That’s right,” Futaba said before Ryuji finally let her down, “Shido will confess and bring down not just himself, but everyone else too.” 

“My sister will make sure of that.” Makoto promised. 

“We got your back.” Ryuji flashed Goro a grin and gave him a sharp pat on the shoulder as well before Goro finally relented and lowered his gun. 

“You’re a hero now Crow, don’t waste that on scum like Shido.” Morgana said.

“Hero…?” Goro turned to look at Morgana with a surprised look before looking back at Shido. He was silent for a minute before he pocketed his gun completely. “Fine…” Goro looked to the ground. It seemed like everyone’s words were making a difference as Goro slid his hand into Akira’s to squeeze it tightly. 

“Before you go fading away Shido,” Akira squeezed Goro’s hand firmly, “when you confess everything, you’ll leave Goro’s name out of all of it. He had nothing to do with it. He was just your private investigator for whatever little scandals you could concoct.” 

“Akira?” Goro questioned snapping his head to look over at him.

“Be at least fatherly enough to keep your own son from suffering for life in prison because you’re a fuckin’ monster!” Ryuji added. 

“Yeah!” Futaba stepped closer. “You never did anything good for him or me, give us time with each other and suffer alone!” 

“Realize that you were a useless father and mourn the fact you never even tried to do right by your own children.” Yusuke demanded.

“Never forget the fact your children both hate you because you took their mothers from them, then used them to try and gain power.” Makoto spoke next. 

“You’ll be alone in your cell, never to see them again, and know it’s because of your own selfish heart.” Haru touched the space over her heart. 

“And don’t try reaching out to them. If they want anything to do with you, they’ll talk to you first!” Ann warned.

“You should count yourself lucky you even know you have children at all, and be glad that they’re both better than you in every possible way.” Morgana looked up at Goro then to Futaba with a smile. “They’re heroes of justice.”

“I understand.” Shido nodded. “I’ll keep Akechi’s name out of it. He only ever did what I told him because I was never there when I should have been. I’m sorry for what I’ve done. I killed your mothers both and felt nothing for it. I won’t ask for your forgiveness. I’ll do as you say.” 

“Good.” Goro sneered. “You’ve ruined enough lives, it’s time you start fixing them instead.” 

“I will. I swear it.” Shido bowed his head. “It feels as if it’s been a very long time since I’ve felt this sincerely sorry.” 

“Then atone.” Akira commanded. 

“That may be good…” Shido nodded, “still… to think I was defeated by you… Hahaa. Truly poetic. I made you a Thief and you used it against me for your own revenge. Good job.” Shido smiled as the wheel of his treasure became smaller and floated down to them. When Ann questioned why it was a wheel Shido replied, “I must--must steer this country. If I don’t who--will.” 

“Is he going to fight us again?” Morgana grew alarmed as the space around Shido began to glitch out. 

“No something is wrong.” Goro narrowed his eyes before Shido let out a pained cry then fell over and vanished. But it wasn’t the normal vanishing that they were used to, this instead looked like he had died. “What?!” 

Suddenly the ship began to shake and sounded as if something had exploded somewhere far off. “What’s happening?!” Ryuji shouted.

“We haven’t taken the treasure yet!” Makoto exclaimed. 

“No time to talk, just grab the treasure and let’s get out of here!” Morgana shouted. Akira did as he was told, bringing the treasure down with the grappling hook before they all turned to run out of the chamber. However, once they were out there was no longer an elevator, and instead they were met with a long hallway. 

“This is different,” Yusuke said, looking down another hall, “how do we get out?” 

“Oracle got any ideas?!” Ryuji called. 

“N-no! The ship is exploding all over and I don’t know why!” Futaba shouted nervously. 

“Something might have happened to Shido in the real world.” Morgana tried to explain. “If that’s the case then his palace will stop existing and if we’re inside when that happens…” 

“That bastard must have done something to kill himself temporarily!” Goro kicked the wall before another explosion nearby was accompanied by the sound of water. “We’re sinking.” 

“I refuse to die like this damn it!” Akira grit his teeth. “Let’s go!” Akira picked the clearest hallway then began to run along it. It was long with no doors but as they went they found a window leading out to the ocean.

“We’re gunna die!” Futaba panicked. “I don’t actually know how to swim!” 

“No we won’t, calm down!” Goro looked around before Makoto pointed out a lifeboat. “That’s our way out. Let’s get closer!” They ran to the next nearest window to look out as the ship began to tilt back making the incline to the single life boat very steep. “We won’t get there before the water overtakes it.” 

“What other choice do we have?!” Yusuke asked, looking back at the water starting to fill the hall they were just in.

“Swimming won’t work at all, the force of the ship getting sucked under the waves will pull us under too!” Goro explained as he started to force people to at least climb outside. 

“I got this!” Ryuji said. “Just hang tight and I’ll nab the boat.” 

“You can make it.” Akira encouraged him. “We’re counting on you Skull.” 

“Yeah!” Ryuji jumped down then made a mad dash and ran toward the boat as the fore of the ship began to angle almost completely upright. He made it to the pull to drop the boat right by them. 

Together Goro and Yusuke pulled the cord to start the boat up and start their drive over to Ryuji to pick him up but when they started to get closer another explosion caused smoke to overtake Ryuji and when it cleared he was gone. Akira felt his stomach bottom out as he stared at the spot where Ryuji had been. He cast his eyes around looking for any sign of his friend but none came.

Ann started to scream Ryuji’s name but as she did another loud ringing took over Akira’s hearing yet again. They couldn’t get closer to check for him, more explosions were going off now. They’d all end up dead if they tried. “Ryuji no…” Akira mumbled before the Metaverse shifted around them and dumped them outside the Diet Building once more. 

“We’re back?!” Ann looked at her hands. “But-- no! What about Ryuji?!” 

“He didn’t… make it out…” Haru said slowly and painfully. 

“We have to go back and find him!” Futaba shouted. 

“We can’t,” Yusuke looked at his phone, “the bookmark is gone… This is… this isn’t funny at all.” Yusuke said between weak chuckles. He couldn’t accept what had just happened either. 

“He,” Goro looked at the Diet Building, “did he…?” 

“The treasure guys…” Morgana nudged something on the ground until Yusuke picked it up and Makoto looked at it to explain it was a legislator’s pin.

“W-who cares about that?” Futaba sniffled. “I-I want Ryuji back! We were supposed to all make it out!” Futaba put her hands up to her face to start crying, only moving them away when Akira stepped up to give her a hug. He didn’t know what to say, he was having a hard time trying to even process what had happened at all. After a few moments he felt Goro join them as well and the three of them stood around hugging trying to even figure out how to explain to Ryuji’s mother what had happened.

“Maaaaaaan,” a familiar voice suddenly spoke over Ann’s sobs, “that was way too close! For real though, why do palaces gotta explode so much? Can’t they just disappear nicely? Tired of being scared for my life when we finish one.” Ryuji walked over to them and everyone stopped to stare at him. “Uhhhh, what’s up?” 

“YOU!” Ann shouted as she pointed then launched herself at Ryuji to hug him tightly. “Idiot!” 

“Didn’t you...die?” Haru looked almost too scared to ask in case Ryuji was going to vanish again.

“What?!” Ryuji looked around at everyone quickly over Ann squeezing him. “I got blasted out of the Metaverse by the explosion. When I came to, I was lyin’ on the grass over there,” he pointed vaguely behind him, “but, uh, yeah. Far as I know I’m pretty alive.” 

“Bro you can’t do that to my heart!” Akira shouted then joined Ann in hugging Ryuji. One by one each person joined until it was just Goro standing awkwardly to the side.

“Reckless idiot.” Goro muttered before joining the hug fest as well. 

“You guys were really that worried about me?” Ryuji asked nervously. 

“Of course we were!” Ann sobbed. “Stupid Ryuji!” 

“We were worried about you! We really thought you were gone!” Haru shouted next, rubbing her face into Ryuji’s shoulder trying to clear her tears away. 

“You can’t just expect us to think you can survive a whole fucking explosion!” Akira cried next.

“I-I’m sorry! Please stop crying on me!” Ryuji begged before he was squeezed tightly by everyone until he let out a squeak.

“What a cute sound!” Futaba teased when everyone finally let go of Ryuji to laugh. “Do it again!” 

“Hell no!” 

“I’m hungry now.” Yusuke said, sniffling. “Getting emotional is hungry work.”

“Let’s stop by somewhere before we go home!” Haru suggested. “I’ll buy!” 

“Ooo, I want something fancy!” Futaba exclaimed.

“Will it be safe for him and you to be out?” Makoto questioned Goro. 

“Shido’s people will be more worried about him and less about us. We’ll be fine.” Goro moved his hand along to take Akira’s. “And if they try something we can just kick the shit out of them too.” 

“Uuuugh, I hope not. I’m so sore.” Akira rolled his shoulder. “That weird Tank Shido hit really hard.” 

“Try having him nearly pull your arms out of their sockets.” Goro leaned his head against Akira’s shoulder with a tired smile. “At any rate, I’ll make you feel better later.” 

“That a promise?” 

“Gross!” Futaba gagged. “I don’t need to hear about my surrogate brother and half-brother having sex!” 

“Use your headphones then.” Akira shot before everyone began to laugh. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's up team? how was that for a fun lil change of heart battle thing? i had fun weaving goro into the shido calling card video. also, totes gave Goro and Akira a fun showtime way before third semester. because that's better. hehehe. i'm not feeling as chatty today as normal so i'm going to just leave this here and head on out. we all know what happens next, strap in for mementos. woo woo.
> 
> god i really rewrote all of this. 
> 
> preview: _“I read a book once by a man named Ken Amada. It was a thought piece that provoked the question of what people as a general existence wanted. In his book he painted an image of there being a seal that kept the desire for death bound behind a door where a single man fights an eternal battle against a God that only wishes to grant the people’s wish. Death.” Goro explained leaning against the door, “It’s a morbid idea but if enough people wanted to give up life that it summoned a God of death we could end up finding something similar to that here.”_


	33. almost to the depths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> while the thieves wait for shido to have his change of heart everyone goes back to normal lives for the most part. akira and goro spend time working with mona and futaba to get to what is the current bottom of mementos and wonder what comes next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its an updoot.

After dinner Akira, Goro, Morgana, and Futaba decided to go back by Leblanc first. It was a bit out of the way to Goro’s apartment but they wanted to tell Sojiro the good news. He deserved to know the truth of Futaba’s father as well. It wouldn’t change the fact that Sojiro was her dad, but at least if anything medically shattering happened then Futaba would have that to fall back on if needed. 

When they arrived back at the shop it felt as though an arctic blast swept past them all. The store was in shambles. There were boxes of stuff all over, stacks of papers strewn about, and even broken glass all over the floor with more than a few jars of coffee beans smashed on various surfaces. 

“Sojiro?!” Futaba shouted, running around to the kitchen to look for him as Akira rushed upstairs to check. His room was also a mess and the Phantom Thief flag they had put on the wall was torn down the middle.

“He’s not here.” Akira went back down the steps.

“I’ll call some people.” Goro took his phone out to start a call as he looked around the cafe.

“This-- we worked so hard!” Futaba began to cry for the second time that night. Morgana jumped from Akira’s bag to start looking around for clues.

Just as Goro began to talk to someone on his phone a ring from the door drew all of their attention to the familiar shape of Sojiro walking inside. “Hey, didn’t know you guys were back yet.” 

“You’re the same as Ryuji!” Futaba shouted before launching herself at Sojiro to hug him tightly as she continued to cry. Goro quietly ended his phone call as Sojiro did his best to try calming Futaba down. 

“What happened?” Goro questioned. 

“After you guys sent out your calling card I was taken to that asshole Shido’s place. After a few hours of just sitting on my hands they suddenly told me I could go home. I have to assume you guys worked your magic or something right?” Sojiro reached back to touch the back of his head with one arm as his other kept a hold on Futaba.

“Something like that.” Akira nodded looking around the cafe. “They really made a mess.”

“Yeah. Those guys had me blindfolded the whole time, so I’ve got no idea where they took me.” Sojiro sighed, “I did catch that it sounded like they were oddly bustling about, and then I heard something about hospital isolation?” 

“That must mean that Shido’s change of heart worked immediately.” Goro touched his chin, “They’ll try to keep him out of the public eye until he’s won the election.” 

“So are we too late?” Akira questioned. 

“We couldn’t really have done it any sooner,” Goro shook his head, “once Shido confesses to what he’s done they’ll overturn the results and either hold another or restore temporary powers to the previous prime minister until the investigation can be completed and the trial held.” 

“”Well, I guess that means we’re just waiting then.” Sojiro sighed just as Futaba finally pulled away, “I know you guys have to be tired but could I get you to help me clean this place up?” 

“This is our fault. We should help.” Morgana scratched the back of his ear. 

“Of course.” Akira nodded, “Looks like you’ll just have to stay here tonight.” Akira shot a smile at Goro. 

“That’s fine, I do enjoy starting my mornings with a good cup of coffee.” Goro teased. 

“Are you implying my coffee isn’t good enough for your refined tastes, _sir?_ ” Akira held a hand to his chest in mock offense. 

“Perhaps.” Goro’s mouth formed into a smirk before he turned away to start cleaning up. 

With all of them working it didn’t take too long to put the shop back into working order but it was still late regardless. It was better to get some rest before telling Sojiro about Shido’s relation to Futaba.

“Thanks for letting me borrow some clothes.” Goro said as he came upstairs again from getting changed,” How was Futaba?” 

“Still mad at Sojiro and Ryuji for making her cry tonight.” Akira shrugged, “She’ll be alright though. How’re you?” 

“I’ll be alright.” Goro tossed his clothes into the sofa, he didn’t seem to give a damn about folding anything right now, before sitting next to Akira, “We managed to change his heart, and more than that you got your wish that my name gets left out of it. Did you talk to everyone beforehand?” 

“Nope.” Akira leaned back on his palms, “Everyone said what they said tonight because they mean it all on their own. I think Futaba phrased it best, you may have been the gun, but Shido’s the one who pulled the trigger.”

“It’s a nice sentiment but that doesn’t change that I could have said no.” Goro looked annoyed. 

“Could you have?” Akira questioned, “When Shido told you to kill the leader of the Phantom Thieves or he’d kill me you were kind of stuck.” 

“Because he’d already amassed the power he needed to make good on that promise. Besides the fact that you and the leader of the Phantom Thieves are one in the same.” Goro shoved at Akira to send him falling onto his bed, “I couldn’t exactly tell him that his threat on your life was redundant. He might have just killed you in reality if he knew who you were to save himself time. Would have been the smarter choice.”

“Maybe,” Akira pushed himself up again, “but I think my point still stands. You were a kid when Shido started to use you. I don’t think a compassionate jury would fault you if you admitted you were scared of what Shido could have done to you if you refused him.” 

“We won’t ever know,” Goro shook his head lightly before he looked thoughtful,” Shido is gone…”

“And we’ve got each other.” Akira found Goro’s hand to hold it, “You can teach me chess now.” 

“You remembered that?” Goro laughed dryly,” Yeah, I guess I can.”

_** STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _1:24am:_ **Pixar Mom __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Pixar Mom** : Looks like Sis is being detained by the police pending investigation as to how Akira escaped from the station alive.  
**GoroKurusu** : They won’t find anything. I scrubbed the security cameras and the route we took to get him into a car were clear of people. There are also no fingerprints since I wear gloves and opened literally all the doors first.  
**Pixar Mom** : You’re very thorough aren’t you?  
**GoroKurusu** : I was thinking about this being a possibility from the start. Well, sneaking him out of the station anyway.  
**AkiraAkechi** : my boyfriend loves me.  
**GoroKurusu** : I hadn’t figured Sae-san into my initial planning so I had to go back to make sure her prints weren’t on anything.  
**Pixar Mom** : As long as they can’t find anything on her they’ll have to let her go.  
**GoroKurusu** : Correct. Sae-san is a very good lawyer. She knows what to do or say that will spare her any trouble.  
**tiny pizza table** : i need to sleep for a week. i am so tired.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : I am as well.  
**banana_hammock** : i think you guys did more damage to me with those hugs than tank shido did with his punches  
**AkiraAkechi** : you’ll live.  
**tiny pizza table** : seriously tho. tank shido was way too strong. what is wrong with him?  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : he was just that full of himself.  
**GoroKurusu** : I’m missing an important reference here I feel.  
**AkiraAkechi** : because we keep calling him tank shido?  
**GoroKurusu** : Yes.  
**tiny pizza table** : i got this.  


** [tiny pizza table has shared a photo.](https://images2.imgbox.com/13/51/jRONES4F_o.png) **

**GoroKurusu** : What the hell is that?  
**tiny pizza table** : it’s a zombie from a video game.  
**GoroKurusu** : I hate this. It looks just like him.  
**tiny pizza table** : i hope male pattern balding isn’t a thing that runs in the family.  
**GoroKurusu** : 😐  
**tiny pizza table** : is that why your hair is so long?  
**AkiraAkechi** : he just put his phone down and covered his face.  
**AkiraAkechi** : he’s muttering something about getting found out.  
**tiny pizza table** : AHAHAHAHA I KNEW IT.  
**banana_hammock** : okay but can i say i dont see an actual resemblance from shido to like… either eof you?  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : eof  
**banana_hammock** : shuddup  
**tiny pizza table** : all we know about shido’s hair is that it doesn’t exist.  
**tiny pizza table** : also my hair is an expertly taken care of color.  
**banana_hammock** : ohhhh you dye it  
**banana_hammock** : what brand do you use?  
**banana_hammock** : it holds nice  
**tiny pizza table** : i forget you dye yours too. i’ll link it to you later.  
**banana_hammock** : nice  
**T & Tea**: Maybe I should try out dying my hair too.  
**tiny pizza table** : HARU YOU WOULD LOOK GOOD WITH PINK HAIR.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : i wanna do pink streaks…  
**Pixar Mom** : Do I really need to remind all of you that we’re still in school? Those hair colors are violating school rules.  
**AkiraAkechi** : i think makoto would look awesome with blue hair.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : I’ve always wanted to try out red.  
**GoroKurusu** : … I’ve thought about silver.  
**tiny pizza table** : WE KNOW YOU CAN’T WAIT TO GET OLD GORO. GOD.  
**GoroKurusu** : What?  
**tiny pizza table** : the sweater vests and khakis. you dress like you’re in your mid-fifties and you’re not even twenty yet!  
**GoroKurusu** : No I don’t!  
**AkiraAkechi** : i’m patting his shoulder.  
**GoroKurusu** : DO I REALLY?  
**tiny pizza table** : ooooh! a caps lock. he’s really upset now.  
**GoroKurusu** : You can’t … FUCK.  
**AkiraAkechi** : he didn’t know you can caps lock on your phone.  
**tiny pizza table** : GORO YOU ARE KILLING ME.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : and i thought akira was out of touch with the memes.  
**GoroKurusu** : I know memes… I’m just not that tech savvy.  
**GoroKurusu** : I need a nap.  
**AkiraAkechi** : we could also just… go to bed. it’s almost 2am.  
**GoroKusuru** : We’re going to bed.  
**T & Tea**: I’ll be going as well.  
**T & Tea**: Good night everyone!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira slept as dreamlessly as he could until he was pulled into the Velvet Room as he usually was after finishing a palace. Something was different however, the flower that had taken over the light had withered and died while the empty cells around him were filled once again but they were all gray and petrified camellias. What was happening?

“The look on your face seems to be that of a man who has accomplished a great deed.” Justine’s words reached Akira after a moment. He hadn’t really been paying attention to the girls. 

“To think you would use the trap set against you…” Igor sounded impressed, “I’ve never seen such a dramatic resurgence such as that. You are truly a marvelous guest.” 

“Fantastic. Thanks for the praise, what the hell is going on there?” Akira pointed at the dead flower. 

“That will make itself clear in time.” Igor dismissed, “What’s important is that you’ve overcome a mysterious misfortune. The one who was set against you has joined your side in a most complete manner. I must admit I did not expect that.” 

“The one set against me?” Akira questioned. 

“There should be no one left to hinder your full rehabilitation,” Igor smiled, “a rehabilitation that will be completed shortly. That is, if everything goes as it’s meant to without problems.”

“I’m kind of getting fed up with the cryptic bullshit, Igor!” Akira snapped. He expected a guard stick to slam against the bars as a result of his shouting but nothing came. He glanced down to the twins to see them both focused intensely on Igor. Why weren’t they repremending him? Well, if he wasn’t going to get yelled at it really might as well keep yelling. “Why won’t you be clear?!” 

“That will be possible in due time.” Igor chuckled. “Sleep now, and we’ll see what happens in the very near future.” Before Akira could snap again he felt the pull of sleep drag him back into slumber. He couldn’t get any answers but he would be damned if this was the end of it.

The next Akira woke up, he could hear faint talking. He opened his eyes slightly to see Goro sitting up a little speaking with Morgana who seemed troubled. “My memories aren’t any closer to coming back to me…” Morgana admitted to Goro and Akira closed his eyes to just listen.

“But you keep having the same dream?” Goro asked. 

“Yes… It’s me, and I form out of this… pool of darkness. From the surroundings it looks like Mementos but I can’t be sure.” Morgana said, “I feel like there’s something I’m supposed to remember but I don’t know what it is.” 

“We should try to get to the bottom of Mementos again. Maybe we’ll find your answer there.” Goro reached out a hand to pet Morgana. 

“Maybe,” Morgana leaned into the touch, “but I’m kind of scared. If I’m really not human and if the truth of that comes to pass down in the depths of Mementoes, I…” Morgana paused pulling away, “what if I disappear?” 

“You won’t.” Goro promised, “Whatever comes to pass down there, we’re here for you. Just as everyone has been there for me. Trust me. I really thought that I would have to die to save him.” Goro turned to look at Akira, to which Akira closed his eyes again, before Goro ran a hand through Akira’s hair, “I got lucky.”

“It’s not luck. It’s faith.” Morgana sounded rather pleased with his choice of words. 

“Then you should have faith as well, faith that we’ll find the truth and no matter what it turns out to be, you have a home with us.” Goro gave Morgana another pet, “You don’t have to be human to stay with us.”

“Thanks… Goro.” Morgana said before he moved to rest in the space between their legs, “We should sleep.” 

“Yeah.” Goro shifted around to get comfortable again, his arms wrapping around Akira with a sigh, “We’ll find the truth.” 

____________________________________________________________

The following weeks after changing Shido’s heart had both Akira and Goro moving around carefully. Shido’s heart had been changed but his men were still out trying to find them. It just meant that Akira wasn’t the only one not going to school for now. 

The two of them plus Morgana and Futaba spent their free days in Mementos and their nights in different hotels. When they tried to go back to Goro’s a very obvious car was parked outside the building. It was dangerous to go back there and probably too dangerous for them at Leblanc as well. With the spoils of battle from Mementos they had no trouble paying for a new one every night.

It was the 14th when the smaller group hit a wall with their Mementos run. After fighting a rather phallic TV producer the four of them found yet another door like the rest, blocking their progress. 

“Well,” Akira folded his arms, “the door always opens after the change of heart target finally talks on TV or whatever, so I guess we just have to wait.” 

“What if it’s just more of the same?” Morgana questioned as his ears drooped, “What if there isn’t a bottom?” 

“There will be.” Goro assured. 

“From what I can pick up in scans there’s not much left after this.” Futaba held her hands to her goggles, “It’s hard to make out but I’m pretty sure.” 

“We’ll just have to come back after Shido’s confession.” Goro said as he touched the wall, “We’ll get to the bottom of this place.” 

“Every palace has a treasure right?” Akira joked but that seemed to get Goro’s attention. He stared at Akira for a minute before looking at the door, “What?” 

“You may be right.” Goro frowned, “If Mementos is everyone’s palace then there’s a treasure in here that represents everyone’s desires.” 

“Yeah, but…” Futaba looked confused, “that would mean like, people would have to have a consistent desire.”

“I read a book once by a man named Ken Amada. It was a thought piece that provoked the question of what people as a general existence wanted. In his book he painted an image of there being a seal that kept the desire for death bound behind a door where a single man fights an eternal battle against a God that only wishes to grant the people’s wish. Death.” Goro explained leaning against the door, “It’s a morbid idea but if enough people wanted to give up life that it summoned a God of death we could end up finding something similar to that here.” 

“A battle against death?” Akira questioned without really looking for an answer. Something in the back of his mind told him that the story of the man in an eternal battle wasn’t just to force thought. He could almost make out a voice from one of his current personas trying to tell him something but every time he tried to grasp the voice it faded out.

“What do people want right now is the question we should be asking.” Goro stated. 

“Uhh, they want stuff handed to them?” Futaba guessed. 

“A lot are hoping us changing Shido’s heart is a hoax so they can rely on him to make decisions.” Morgana added which dragged Akira out of his own head as an idea came to him.

“People want the easiest choice.” Akira mumbled at first before repeating it louder then continuing, “They’ve been listening to Shido carry on about steering his great ship for so long, that they see themselves as passengers that have no say in the course he’s charted.” 

“Exactly that,” Goro pushed off the wall, “What we might find down there is the people’s desire of choice, or rather, lack thereof. Either way I think our job as Phantom Thieves is to steal that distortion.” 

“That’s creepy to think about.” Futaba shuddered. 

“This is just speculation. It could be anything, we don’t know yet.” Goro knocked on the door, “When this opens we may yet find out.” 

“Well, I’m good without knowing for a few more days.” Futaba turned around to start her way back toward the stairs so they could leave once again and Morgana followed her.

“You think once we get the bottom the Metaverse might vanish?” Akira questioned Goro before he could follow. 

“Hm,” Goro paused to touch his chin in thought, “It’s possible. I’ve been wondering exactly how long the Metaverse has been around. I have doubts that we’d be the first ones to interact with it if it’s been a long time.”

“I…” Akira trailed off, “There’s this place I can go to where I talk with someone that helps organize my personas. The Velvet Room, sound familiar at all?” 

“No.” Goro looked his hands, “Is that what you go whenever you go into that corner?” 

“Yeah,” Akira admitted, “Something I was told in there was that there were other guests before. Some of the personas I’ve been using recently have been from those people. Thanatos for example is one of them. What if we’re not the first group to try getting to the bottom here? What if we get trapped and the cycle kicks up again?” 

Goro stared at Akira for a long time before he shook his head, “I don’t think that’s the case.” 

“How?” 

“I can’t explain it. It’s just a feeling.” 

“That detective’s instinct?” Akira questioned teasingly.

“It might be.” Goro smirked, “Can I really even call myself a detective? I set up most of my biggest solves.” 

“Yeah but not all of them right?” Akira questioned as the two of them finally began to follow after Futaba.

“Well, no…” Goro shrugged. 

“You have a knack for it. I just think that maybe doing the whole TV prince thing is overrated.” Akira shrugged. 

“Perhaps, I have pulled out of the public eye. I’m sure most have forgotten about me.” Goro sighed, “I guess that’s just the curse of the media. If you don’t stay in the spotlight you’re forgotten. I wonder if that will happen with the Phantom Thieves as well.” 

“No way. We made way too much noise to be forgotten so easily.” Akira shook his head, “Besides, I doubt anyone will forget that calling card of Shido’s any time soon.” 

“Well, we have to see him confess before we can say that.” Goro shook his head as they approached the Monabus, “Just a few more days until the election results are announced. Are you ready?” 

“Are you?” Akira shot back.

“I’m trying to be.” Goro nodded pausing with his hand on the door, “Everyone’s already made it so I wouldn’t be a reliable witness. Shido would deny me before I even got into the courtroom.” 

“Yeah, that was pretty great.” Akira stretched his hands up over his head. 

“I still don’t like that you’re going to just… take my place instead.” Goro frowned at the floor. “You’ll be in a place I can’t protect you.”

“I’ll be okay.” Akira pulled Goro’s arm to stop him and sneak in a kiss. “Just get to the bottom of Mementos for me yeah?” 

“Idiot, we’ll do that together.”

___________________________________________________________________

On the night of the 18th the Phantom Thieves all gathered at Leblanc to watch the news. Sae was with them and Sojiro closed shop early to keep anyone unwelcome from coming in. Shido was due to make his acceptance speech, he’d won the election, so his people couldn’t keep him from the screen any longer. Sae and Sojiro took the liberty of preparing a celebration dinner but no one had touched anything yet. They wanted to hear Shido confess first.

Goro and Akira sat huddled together as Shido appeared on screen with a few of his staff, “This is it.” Goro mumbled, squeezing Akira’s hand in an almost painful hold.

“ _My election is the result of every citizen’s aid!”_ Shido started, “ _Your support warms my heart!”_ Akira held his breath, this speech needed to change, he couldn’t still be evil. Did they really fuck up? “ _That is exactly why I cannot forgive myself!”_

“He’s doing it!” Ryuji leaned forward excitedly in his seat until Ann shoved him back out of the way of the TV.

“ _The reason President Okumura passed away is that I’m the one who killed him!_ ” Shido announced and all at once a collective of sighs let loose from everyone in the room, “ _I manipulated the information about the Phantom Thieves being responsible for the mental shutdowns, and comas. I am the person to blame for those lives lost!_ ” At Shido’s side his aids were starting to panic, clearly trying to stop the broadcast.

“Own what you did!” Futaba shouted at the TV next.

“ _Everything I did was for my own promotion and selfish gain_.” Shido suddenly looked very sullen, “ _I even used my own children’s lives as stepping stones in order to claim this country as my ship._ ” 

“Shido had more than one kid?” Sojiro questioned reminding them that no one had actually gotten around to telling him about Futaba.

“ _I am a true criminal that can be tried for any crime, and it still would not be enough!_ ” Shido said dramatically as he held the microphone in two hands to stop one of the aids from taking it from him, “ _I will confess everything! Please! Pass judgement on me! I beg you! If I could atone for all I’ve done with my life I will! I request to be judged at once!_ ” 

Suddenly the screen cut to a “technical difficulty” and around the room cheers ripped their way out of everyone’s chests. Sojiro passed out drinks for everyone so he could announce a toast. He started to try saying a few words when Futaba started to cry about avenging her mother.

“I was also able to settle a debt in regard to my father as well.” Haru spoke next. 

“We all worked so hard for this.” Ann sniffled before she and Haru both began to cry so she pulled Haru into a hug for mutual comfort.

“Shido’s guilty, right Sis?” Makoto questioned her sister. 

“It’ll be difficult to prosecute him immediately,” Sae admitted, “but I’ll do this thoroughly until the casualty between his other crimes can be proven.” Sae looked to Goro and Akira, “Since Wakaba-san’s research was released to the public recently we can use those results to save Japan.”

“We could testify too, you know?” Ryuji suggested. 

“Thank you, but I’m going to do as much as I can without that. I want you all to live normal lives. I’ll only resort to your testimonies if I have no other choice.” Sae looked around the room, “You kids have done so much, it’s about time us adults prove that we can get our act together.” 

“So what about their education?” Sojiro motioned at Akira and Goro, “They’ve been running around hiding from Shido’s men for weeks now.” 

“I think it should be fine for you to return to school now,” Sae nodded, “It’s true that your faces will be recognized by Shido’s men but they’ll all be under heavy scrutiny until the suspicions on them can be dealt with. They wouldn’t dare to make a move under such conditions.” Sae explained.

“Aww, but I was having fun living out my delinquent life on the road with my boyfriend and my not-cat.” Akira pouted, earning a hard nudge in the side from Goro.

“Just be as normal as you can,” Sae stated, “there will be a situation where you and I will be used as scapegoats. It can’t be avoided given the situation with your _suicide_ and my own _change of heart_ but until then just be a normal happy teenager.” 

“I’m going to help with everything I can.” Goro announced, “I may have a conflict of interest involved but the normal police don’t know my involvement with the Phantom Thieves and trying to pin anything on me will be met with denial on Shido’s part.” 

“If what you told me is true then that should be the case,” Sae nodded, “The ones who know of Akechi-kun’s involvement will be hesitant to implicate him as it would also implicate themselves. That being said I plan to do everything I can to protect you all this time. The first step in that is prosecuting Shido.” 

“We believe in you Sae-san.” Akira raised his glass before everyone called ‘cheers’ and took a drink. Right after that Sae’s phone began to ring. 

“Looks like I need to go. Shido’s been transferred to a hospital.” Sae looked at her phone then put it away again, “I’ll let you have tonight Akechi-kun, but tomorrow I expect you at work.” 

“I’ll be there.” Goro promised. 

“Good. I need my best detective on the case.” Sae took a moment to drain her glasses then picked up her purse to leave.

“Alright let’s eat!” Ryuji announced before he started to dig in.

The celebration for the rest of the night was a steady one. Only pausing to tell Sojiro what they’d found out about Futaba’s relation to Shido. He didn’t seem surprised and instead stated that no matter who Futaba’s biological father was, she was Sojiro’s daughter. This caused another crying scene. Once everything was cleaned up everyone but Goro left the cafe.

“So, tomorrow you go back to school.” Goro watched Akira put some dishes away. 

“And you go back to work.” Akira stated once he closed the cupboard, “The way Sae-san spoke made it pretty obvious that it’s only a matter of time before they come for me anyway. Glad I talked you into letting me do this.” 

“You just love to self sacrifice.” Goro rolled his eyes, “I don’t know why I fell in love with someone like you.” 

“I hit max in the major five social points is why,” Akira adjusted his glasses, “I’m smart, charming, gutsy, kind, and have amazing proficiency in all things.” 

“You’re also clearly very humble.” Goro laughed,” Let’s get ready for bed.” Goro got up from his chair to lead them upstairs as Akira’s phone buzzed, “Who is it at this time.” 

“It’s Yuuki,” Akira paused to look at the messages, “He’s hyped about Shido’s conference but says that something isn’t right about the online reaction.” 

“What’s that mean?” Goro stopped his task of undressing.

“No one’s reacting to it.” Akira hummed, “There’s been no movement on the forum and the news is carrying on like nothing happened in regards to Shido?” 

Goro grabbed his phone to start looking at news sites, “This is bugging me. They’re not even talking about the Phantom Thieves at all. You’d think after such a major victory that there’d be some kind of buzz online?” Akira finished talking to Yuuki before he plugged his phone in, “He said he’s going to change the poll question to see if that generates a little more attention.”

“I don’t get it, what’s he going to ask?” Morgana questioned from his seat on the bed.

“We can check tomorrow.” Akira shrugged as he started to change. 

“Well, the case is finally closed and the shackles on you should be gone soon too!” Morgana said excitedly, “We changed the heart of someone who was meant to be the next prime minister. No better finale than that I think.” 

“Finale?” Goro questioned after tugging on his pajama shirt.

“Yes. I think this may be the best time to end our deal.” Morgana scratched behind his ear, “I’m sure you’ll be fine now. You can manage without me being with you.” Morgana jumped down to the floor but Akira scooped him up quickly, “Put me down!” 

“No way.” Akira shook his head hugging Morgana.

“Let go! I’m not leaving immediately! I was going to give you two private time tonight!” Morgana struggled to get free.

“You certainly made it sound as if you were.” Goro approached as well to pat Morgana on the head softly, “The note of finality did you no favors.”

“I just…” Morgana sighed relaxing, “If I just stay here I won’t recall anything. I’ve watched as everyone else found their place and here I am. I haven’t found anything about myself or what I am.” 

“That may be true but you don’t have to leave to find that.” Goro stated motioning for Akira to sit with him on the bed with Morgana, “We made a promise to get to the bottom of Mementos and that’s what we plan to do. So don’t leave.”

“Yeah but--” Morgana started to try explaining himself but instead he cut off and let out a sigh, “Fine. I’ll be counting on you guys.” 

“Just as we count on you.” Akira gave Morgana a tight squeeze, “Let’s get some sleep.” Akira flopped back into bed still holding Morgana.

“Get changed into your pajamas.” Goro gave Akira a playful tap on the leg before he stood to finish changing as well.

____________________________________________________________

_** BE GAY DO CRIMES ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:06am: **AllBirawnNoBirain** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**AllBirawnNoBirain** : fuckin finals!!!!  
**disaster gay** : why didn’t anyone remind me?  
**The Perfect Gay™** : I’m sorry Akira-kun!  
**disaster gay** : i’ll be okay… probably.  
**asexual gremlin** : i could hack the school and fix your scores if you do bad.  
**disaster gay** : i should be fine.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : WHAT ABOUT ME?  
**asexual gremlin** : what about you?  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : harsh  
**ComissionsAreOpen** : My finales were last week.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : yeah but arent ur finals just to draw a pretty picture?  
**CommissionsAreOpen** : No. >:|  
**coffee gay** : Perhaps a study group is in order for you.  
**disaster gay** : you make it sound like you won’t be there.  
**coffee gay** : The SIU director is trying to pull my strings as well as Sae-san’s so we’ll be busy finding the evidence against him to remove him and his second in command from their posts. I will be very busy for a few days.  
**disaster gay** : ugh.  
**keysmash lesbian** : should we do another change of heart?  
**coffee gay:** I don’t think we need to. Shido’s change is the domino we needed to push the rest. A few of his conspirators have actually already fled the country. It’s the ones who think they can still control me that have stayed.  
**disaster gay** : if they don’t get their mits off you i’ll body check all of them.  
**coffee gay** : Thank you, I love you too. Focus on your school work and I’ll do what I can to make sure Shido sees justice.  
**Driving Gay** : What have they done with Shido anyway?  
**coffee gay** : They’ve admitted him for psychiatric evaluation.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : isnt that bad?  
**coffee gay** : So long as he’s in treatment we can’t move against him.  
**keysmash lesbian** : let’s just wait for goro-kun and makoto’s sister to build their case. I believe in you guys!  
**coffee gay** : Thank you Ann-chan. Good luck with testing.  
**disaster gay** : i’m sneaking into your apartment tonight.  
**coffee gay** : You can do what you want but from the amount of work we’ll have to do I don’t see myself returning home for a few days.  
**disaster gay** : this is the worst timeline.  
**asexual gremlin** : oh i bet there’s worse! i bet there’s one where goro never really came around to our side and you two never hooked up at all so he died.  
**asexual gremlin** : or one where akira never got arrested and we all got screwed in the end.  
**asexual gremlin** : OH OR ANOTHER WERE AKIRA IS ACTUALLY A GIRL.  
**disaster gay** : wow. i hate all of those but one.  
**asexual gremlin:** which one?  
**disaster gay:** i am cool with being a girl. sans a lot of sexual harassment i’m sure a lot of this would play out the same. the other two obviously are the worst. goro would you still love me if i were a girl?  
**coffee gay** : Of course.  
**disaster gay** : we’re meant to be~  
**asexual gremlin** : i have a lot of questions about that actually but i’m not going to ask them.  
**disaster gay** : like what?  
**Driving Gay** : Nope. No. Get back to class. Stop.  
**asexual gremlin** : another day! good-byeeee~  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

As with many times before Leblanc became a hub for study time once school was over. Sojiro apologized for not reminding Akira about finals while Futaba sat across from Akira at the table to provide ‘emotional support in this trying time’ which was really just her sitting there laughing at him.

After an hour or so everyone else arrived to help study, even Yusuke who was done with his finals came around. Dramatics about dying due to test failure circled around as Makoto picked bits she thought would be on the tests given her experience with last year. Akira found that everything she went over were things he knew so he yet again felt confident he would maintain his high grades even with all the time he spent out of school and in various beds with Goro. 

“You’ve missed a lot of class yet you’re still on top of everything.” Makoto shook her head,” I knew I shouldn’t be worried about you but this is surprising even to me.” 

“Yeah, he’s always been so good at studying… why do I still feel betrayed.” Ann cried over her math work.

“Betrayed may be a bit much.” Haru laughed. 

“Don’t worry about this guy. He’ll keep his smarts up the best he can to match his dear boyfriend’s pace.” Morgana teased Akira who flushed at the notion he only studied to keep up with Goro. 

“S-shut up!” Akira pushed Morgana’s head down.

“How about a quick break?” Sojiro then made them all drinks to give everyone a chance to actually absorb some of the information Makoto had told them. 

“Man, you’d think with all the stuff we learned as Phantom Thieves we wouldn’t need any of this school crap.” Ryuji groaned, “Are you with me Aki--actually never mind.” 

“Studying is important Ryuji.” Akira said almost flatly.

“All the experiences you’ve been through are important but common sense is just as important.” Sojiro said, “I think you should know better than anyone how nasty adults without common sense, or a little empathy, can be.” 

“Yeah,” Ryuji sighed.

“You make a great point!” Haru agreed. 

“One day you’ll graduate high school and become adults. Then when you get married you’ll need common sense more than ever.” Sojiro looked thoughtful. 

“Marriage…” Ryuji hummed before a devilish grin crossed his face and he stared right at Akira, “You plan on gettin’ married?” 

For the second time today Akira’s face burned deep red, “Sh-shut up!” His words were accompanied with the sound of a camera snap as Futaba took a photo of Akira’s face.

“That’s going right to Goro.” Futaba announced as she tapped the screen a few times. 

“Don’t!” Akira begged but there was no way for him to reach her before she sent the picture off.

“I think that means he does.” Ann laughed, “There’s nothing to be shy about!” 

“Well, either way I think we know that won’t be for a while.” Yusuke noted, “I think I’m a bit more concerned with what I’m going to be eating tomorrow than about who I might marry in the future.” 

“Ugh,” Ryuji groaned, putting his head on the table, “Now I’m just hungry.” 

“Let’s finish studying then we can eat something nice.” Haru encouraged Ryuji, earning yet another groan.

Once they were done Ann put her head on the table to let out a dry sob, “Goooood that took so looooooooooong! I miss my girlfriend.” 

“I miss my boyfriend.” Akira also put his head on the table. 

“You both are so damn lucky.” Ryuji pouted, “I wish I had a S.O.”

“Have you tried to flirt with random people like at the beach?” Ann snickered. 

“No…” Ryuji frowned. 

“Why don’t you and Inari give it a go?” Futaba wiggled her eyebrow. 

“Hmm…” Ryuji tapped his chin.

“I value Ryuji as a friend.” Yusuke said, turning a page in his notes. “I believe I’m going to refrain from any dating until this mess with Shido is finally closed.” 

“Ow… Anyway, I just need it to stay in my brain until finals are over.” Ryuji put his head on the table. “I’m so tired.”

“You should want to keep it in your brain for longer than that.” Makoto sighed.

“Good work today you guys.” Sojiro congratulated them before passing out curry to everyone, “Once you’re done you can really celebrate, for now have a good meal and be careful on your way home.” 

“Thanks Boss!” Ryuji cheered before he started to shovel food into his mouth.

The rest of dinner was spent in happy normal teenaged conversation until everyone cleared their plates and went home. Goro did not message Akira that night. It left him worried but he didn’t press. Instead he sent off a quick ‘I love you’ then went to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i really like the next chapter and stuff so get excited for that. i'm gunna drop a preview and run. i have a new project i'm working on. :D i gave my server a preview of the next thing and they seemed to like it a lot so i'm mega excited! hhhheeeee
> 
> preview:  
>  _The following day Akira was the first to arrive at the station hideout. They didn’t give a time Goro wanted them to meet and Akira’s anxiety was eating away at him when he was waiting at home. He hadn’t even thought to tell Futaba he was leaving before her because he was just too focused on seeing Goro again. One by one everyone showed up to wait with him._
> 
> _“Do you think he’ll show soon?” Yusuke wondered._
> 
> _“He has to…” Akira muttered with his leg bouncing. Haru seemed to be the only one who caught it as she offered him a kind smile._  
> 


	34. wanna hear a cheesy romance line? wait for it...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> following shido's change of heart goro gets busy. akira gets lonely. then suddenly they have one more palace to do. it's the beginning of the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> second interview for my job done. :dabs:

The morning of the start of finals was nothing special. Akira had checked his phone for a message back from Goro but found nothing. He just hoped that things were going well and that he wasn’t going to have to stage a rescue from the police station. His mind was so focused on what could be wrong that Goro couldn’t even message back a heart that Akira nearly forgot to bring Morgana with him.

The train ride over was uneventful as was the walk to school. It was once Akira was inside that a familiar voice called for him to wait. He turned around to look at Kasumi who seemed a bit flushed. How long has she been calling for him?

“Good morning senpai!” Kasumi huffed.

“Morning.” Akira greeted before a yawn cut in.

“Up late studying?” Kasumi questioned with a chuckle. 

“Nah, I’m just not much of a morning person.” Akira admitted digging under his glasses to clear away some sleep, “How about you?” 

“I’m at my best at the start of a day!” Kasumi smiled brightly, “It’s been a while since we could meet together at school. I suppose that your ‘family business’ has been concluded then?” 

“You could say that.” Akira had nearly forgotten what Sojiro claimed Akira was absent for.

Kasumi looked around to make sure no one was near them before she leaned in to speak quietly, “Thank you for changing Representative Shido’s heart.” 

“Yeah… that was actually the exhausting part.” Akira touched the back of his neck as he felt Morgana shift around in his bag, “I’m sorry we couldn’t ask you along.” 

“I understand.” Kasumi shook her head, “Still, you deserve all the thanks for the work you’ve done Kurusu-senpai. If you have time we should go somewhere to celebrate!” Kasumi looked thoughtful as she tried to come up with an idea then snapped her fingers, “Oh! What do you think about going to pay our New Years respects together? The new year is almost upon us and it would be a good start to a good year!” 

Akira had to think on his plans. New Years could either be really great or terrible. It depended on how the investigation with Shido went. He might have time to spend with her if Goro was too busy, or he could just meet with her after going with Goro instead. It was really up in the air at the moment and though he wanted to make that promise he knew he shouldn’t. Before Akira could actually answer her the bell rang.

“Oops! Better get to class and work on these exams first! I’ll message you later senpai!” Kasumi flashed a grin then left to get to class.

Akira’s focus really needed to be on his finals right now. He could figure out how to respond to Kasumi later.

___________________________________________________________

_** KASUMI YOSHIZAWA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _5:56pm: **Kasumi** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Kasumi** : Good evening, Senpai!  
**Kasumi** : I couldn’t really say much at school and all but…!  
**Kasumi** : I just wanted to let you know that I’m super glad you’re safe!  
**Kasumi** : Do you remember the promise we made on the roof?  
**Akira** : uhhhh. maybe?  
**Kasumi** : It’s okay if you don’t!  
**Kasumi** : I just wanted to say I was so excited when I saw you this morning that I invited you for New Years without really thinking!  
**Kasumi** : But it also works with that promise we made! We can kill two birds with one stone by visiting the shine together!  
**Akira** : ooooooooh right. i remember now.  
**Akira** : sorry. my brain is on autopilot.  
**Akira** : i’m thinking more about math and kanji than i am thinking about anything else.  
**Akira** : which is impressive given the weird stuff i’ve been through lately…  
**Kasumi** : I understand!  
**Kasumi** : Just… thank you for coming back okay!  
**Akira** : yeah… sorry to have worried you.  
**Kasumi** : You don’t have to apologize! I just wish I could have done more to help…!  
**Kasumi** : I’d offer again right now but after exams are over I’ll be going to a local training camp!  
**Kasumi** : I almost didn’t go since you were dealing with so much and it made me feel guilty!  
**Akira** : no you should go.  
**Akira** : gymnastics is important to you after all and i wouldn’t want to have you miss important opportunities because of me.  
**Kasumi** : I knew you’d say that!  
**Kasumi** : It’s okay now though! You’re safe and Shido’s heart has been changed!  
**Kasumi** : I can really focus on my training now!  
**Kasumi** : I’m sorry to bother you when you’re probably studying for exams!  
**Kasumi** : I’ll talk to you later!  
**Akira** : good night yoshizawa.  
**Kasumi** : Goodnight!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:17pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : getting ready for bed here. just wanted to shoot you another message to check on you.  
**Akira** : let me know you’re okay please?  
**Akira** : I love you.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The following morning Akira was on his way to his transfer line when he heard Ann call for him. He paused to wait for her to catch up to him then offered her a smile, “Good morning Ann my dearest friend.” 

“Good morning Akira~” Ann greeted him in return before her expression turned tired, “Another day of tests. I wish we could catch a break.”

“I know how you feel.” Akira sighed, “I don’t think I got enough coffee this morning. I should have injected it right into my veins.” 

“Have you heard from Goro-kun?” Ann questioned. 

“Not yet. I’m starting to get worried.” Akira folded his arms.

“Well, I’m sure he and Sae-san are just busy. Let’s wait okay?” Ann gave Akira a pat on the shoulder before Kasumi approached them both, “Good morning Yoshizawa-san!”

“Good morning Takamaki-senpai, and you too Kusuru-senpai!” Kasumi bowed to them both, “How are exams treating you?” 

“Horribly.” Ann sighed, “I can’t concentrate on them at all but myyyyyy _significant other..._ won’t talk to me on the phone until exams are done so I focus.” Ann looked a bit panicked. She hadn’t really told anyone outside of the Phantom Thieves that she was dating Shiho.

“That must be rough!” Kasumi gasped, “I’m sure it’ll make talking to that person much better once you do get to talk again I bet!” 

“You’re right,” Ann pointed, “How are exams for you? You seem pretty busy with practice so I can’t even picture how you find time to study too.”

“Oh practice is going great! Exams...not so much.” Kasumi admitted, “I actually passed out at my desk studying last night.” 

“Done that.” Akira chuckled, “My brother put a blanket on me when I really wish he would have just woken me up instead. My back was so sore my placement went down...”

“How far down?” Ann looked at Akira with wide eyes. 

“I came in second by two points.” Akira pouted. 

“Wow senpai! You’re a bit competitive aren’t you?” Kasumi questioned.

“Just a little.” Akira played with his bangs thinking back on how he would get with Goro from time to time, “Maybe a lot.” 

“Well, we should get going before we’re late.” Kasumi suggested, “I’m going to cram as much as I can on the train to school.” 

“I’ll watch your back.” Akira promised walking with the two girls to make it the rest of the way to school. 

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _11:24pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : Goro please give me something.  
**Akira** : I’m about to kick in the police station doors to check on you.  
**Akira** : I love you.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The next morning was dreary and cold. The rain came down of mixed sprinkles and heavy torrents. It was great weather for testing at least. Akira was standing at his transfer platform again tapping on his phone wondering if he should call Goro when Makoto approached him after getting off her first train, “Hey there. Today is the last day of exams. Are you doing well?” 

“With exams? Yes. Waiting for something from Goro? No.” Akira shoved his phone in his pocket.

“Sis hasn’t been home or in contact either.” Makoto sighed, “I’m worried about what’s happening with them but honestly I believe that they’re alright.” Makoto touched Akira’s arm to try and comfort him, “We just need to wait a little longer.”

“Y-yeah.” Akira looked to her, “I just wish he’d send me a quick message. Even a little emote.” 

“I know,” Makoto smiled softly, “We just need to be there for them when they’re able.” 

“Right,” Akira hung his head, “Thanks Makoto. I was literally about to march into that station and demand to see him.” 

“If we don’t hear from him tomorrow we’ll both go, okay?” Makoto promised.

“Sounds good.” Akira smiled at her before they turned to get on the train together.

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:14pm:_ **Akira __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : Goro, I fucking love you.  
**Akira** : Give me just a single emote or letter to let me know you’re at least not fucking dead or something.  
**Akira** : I am scared.  
**Akira** : My hanahaki is going to come back at this rate...  
**Goro** : 🗡️  
**Akira** : Thank you.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _11:32pm:_ **Goro Kurusu __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**GoroKurusu** : We need to meet tomorrow afternoon.  
**Pixar Mom** : Is something wrong?  
**AkiraAkechi** : Goro?  
**Pixar Mom** : It seems he’s already offline again.  
**AkiraAkechi** : Fuck.  
**Pixar Mom** : Has he talked to you?  
**AkiraAkechi** : He sent me an emote to let me know he was okay.  
**AkiraAkechi** : Other than that? No.  
**Pixar Mom** : I hope everything is okay.  
**T & Tea**: Maybe it’s about the lack of news on Shido’s confession.  
**T & Tea**: Everyone’s just been talking about how he won in a landslide.  
**Pixar Mom** : You have a point.  
**AkiraAkechi** : We’ll meet at the old station hideout.  
**Pixar Mom** : Okay.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The following day Akira was the first to arrive at the station hideout. They didn’t give a time Goro wanted them to meet and Akira’s anxiety was eating away at him when he was waiting at home. He hadn’t even thought to tell Futaba he was leaving before her because he was just too focused on seeing Goro again. One by one everyone showed up to wait with him.

“Do you think he’ll show soon?” Yusuke wondered.

“He has to…” Akira muttered with his leg bouncing. Haru seemed to be the only one who caught it as she offered him a kind smile.

An hour went by with no sign of Goro, then a second, it was nearing evening when Goro finally showed and he looked dreadful. Akira jogged over to reach him with a hug first to which Goro fell into with a content sigh. Akira held him in a hug for a few moments before walking back over to the team, “I’m sorry I’m late. It’s been… rough.” Goro admitted. 

“How’s my sister?” Makoto questioned once they were close. 

“As of right now? I’m not sure, but I’ve been dismissed completely,” Goro leaned heavily against Akira as he looked around, “I checked the chat before coming, you all hit the nail on the head pretty accurately. As it stood when I was escorted out of the station, Shido’s inauguration has only been postponed.” 

“What?!” Makoto shouted, gaining a lot of attention before she blushed and turned away from people staring at her, “What do you mean postponed?” 

“That asshole should be getting _fired_!” Ryuji hissed.

“They claim he’s simply in poor health right now and when he’s better he’ll be able to assume command. At this moment all of his meetings are being run through his second in command.” Goro explained resting even more heavily against Akira as he explained.

“This is completely different from what my sister told us…” Makoto covered her mouth with her hand. 

Nearby they could actually hear people talking about Shido and offering him some pity. One man even worried that Shido may step down entirely due to his health. Goro watched them with a slow blink before closing his eyes, “That’s the kind of talk you hear everywhere right now. People are sympathetic to him. They think he claimed blame because he feels so strongly about what happened to all the victims but he’s not actually the one who committed crimes.”

“It’s a real good thing we told him to keep your name out of things.” Ryuji growled as he kicked the ground, “If we didn’t you’d be rotting in a jail cell right now and everyone’d be blamin’ you.”

“Mmhmm,” Goro hummed tiredly, “So far I’ve had a few people try to blackmail me, but when I met their bluff they backed off. Trying to use ‘ _we’ll tell everyone about what you did_ ’ doesn’t work when doing so would bring into question how they know. So instead they decided to just remove me. I’m less of a danger to them if I’m on the outside.” 

“Fuck them.” Akira sneered, “I can’t believe this.” 

“I don’t know how people can still believe in such a monster.” Yusuke looked disgusted. 

“Hey, wait, what the hell?!” Ann exclaimed, “The Phantom Thieves are being treated like they never existed!” 

“What?” Ryuji said loudly before he took his phone out to search as well as everyone else. Akira decided not to move for fear that a shift in his body would send Goro falling to the ground so instead he looked over what he could off Ann’s phone. 

“No link among the ‘change of heart’ incidents. Only coincidental psychiatric disorders…” Haru read from her phone, “The Phantom Thieves only used those rumors to their advantage.” 

“They figure if they can’t beat the Phantom Thieves head on, make it seem like they never existed.” Goro summed up without opening his eyes. 

“This is preposterous!” Yusuke said angrily, “Who would believe any of this? People witnessed our actions for themselves!” 

“The person they got to say this is a famous researcher.” Futaba looked troubled, “The ministry is saying that’s how they determined the situation too.”

“That researcher is on Shido’s payroll.” Goro explained again before more people nearby began to loudly talk about Shido. One man asked when Shido would make a comeback before the other said that they only trusted Shido to handle the country at this time.

“Even if that researcher is on Shido’s payroll this still isn’t normal.” Haru put her phone away then looked at the group hoping someone had some idea.

“I hate to say it but it’s almost like people in reality have become distorted.” Morgana said, “We were noticing it some during Shido’s election too when we were in Mementos. I’m more than a little worried about what this could mean. All we can do at the moment is wait and see what happens...” 

“Agreed,” Goro nodded, “I have no way of helping Sae-san anymore. So we may need to find a way to press the right people from outside the investigation or we stand the high chance of not seeing anything done.” 

“Before we talk more let’s head back to Leblanc.” Akira said to Goro, “You’re falling asleep and there are a lot of people here.” 

“Okay.” Makoto agreed. 

“Let me help with him.” Ryuji moved around to Akira to help with Goro. 

“Just get him on my back.” Akira moved once Ryuji had a hold of Goro then helped to lower him on once Akira kelt down. Ann grabbed Goro’s briefcase then the party set off back to Leblanc. Akira wanted to put Goro in bed but he refused, saying he needed to talk with everyone still.

“My sister messaged me,” Makoto said, “As far as the case is concerned there is none. They’re claiming he has to have a psychiatric evaluation and they’re keeping everyone away from him.” 

“That must have happened after they walked me out.” Goro said.

“So you’re telling me that the assembly of Shido’s case is completely in danger?” Yusuke questioned worriedly. 

“We know he doesn’t need a psychiatric evaluation!” Haru snppened, “It’s bullshit!” 

“Oh fuck Haru cussed.” Ryuji stared wide eyed before Sojiro spoke next. 

“Shido’s lackeys must have pressured the others around him. This just means there are far more people who would be in trouble if the truth came out than we imagined.” Sojiro looked troubled.

“I guess Shido’s shit stunk to high heaven to gather so many flies.” Ryuji growled. 

“Honey.” Yusuke corrected. 

“What?” Ryuji’s face flushed.

“You gather more--you know what, never mind. He is shit.” Yusuke changed his mind halfway through trying to explain but Ryuji only looked disappointed.

“Is there anything we can try to fix this?” Ann questioned. 

“It may come down to if the public wants to see Shido tried or not.” Goro said, “If there’s no interest the people around Shido will keep him in line and use him as a figure head. They’ll brainwash him to just smile and read a teleprompter until they can find someone else to use.”

“The problem with that chance is that the mass media is working overtime to manipulate information.” Makoto frowned at her phone, “They made it clear that the argument itself was ‘occult’ in nature. To them it’s as if none of it ever happened.” 

“So as a result the Phantom Thieves are still labeled as criminals. Even after all the work you’ve done to prove you aren’t.” Sojiro said with a troubled expression.

“I can’t even testify against the accusation to own the blame.” Goro sighed, “Since Shido denies I had anything to do with it and the people who know better don’t want to implicate themselves.” 

“You know you’d just be alone in a cell while Shido’s sitting comfy in some bed readin’ the news. You’re better off here with us.” Ryuji shook his head, “Fuck Shido.”

“A lot of people online aren’t even calling for arrests,” Futaba was looking at her phone, “In the storm of criticisms online people care calling for executions on capture.” 

“This is too much…” Ann shook her head. 

“My sister is on her way here so let’s wait and see what she can tell us.” Makoto looked around, “Goro-kun you should sleep.” 

“Just give me some coffee.” Goro shook his head, “I’ll be fine.” 

“I’ll make it a double.” Sojiro promised as he started to work. 

“Damn it! Everyone is to easily falling for a load of fuckin’ bullshit! What the hell did we risk our lives for?!” Ryuji slammed a fist down on the table. 

“If Shido isn’t judged by the law then everything we’ve done will be treated as if it never happened at all.” Yusuke leaned against the counter, “There has to be something we can do.” 

“They’re doing whatever they want,” Akira grimaced, “Isn’t this just controlling the people’s cognition? It’s just like we’re in a palace.” 

“A palace…” Goro repeated before Sae entered the cafe, “Hello Sae-san. I see you’ve also been let go.” Sojiro came around to give Goro his coffee.

“Same to you though yours is more permanent than mine.” Sae set her purse down before she took a seat, “I want to start with apologizing to all of you. We gathered the best of the best and fought for a case but as you’ve been told it was denied.” 

“This will set a trend that will continue to just spiral down without end.” Goro looked down at his cup, “It won’t just end with Shido being found innocent. Even without me they can use the Metaverse to commit all kinds of atrocious crimes.”

“On a national scale even.” Sae agreed, “As alarming as that is, what’s more worrying is the danger we’re in because we know the truth. They’ve already put themselves in charge, it’s only a matter of time before they find a reason to arrest us all. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they were to break in here now.”

“This is fucking stupid…” Ryuji glared at the table. 

“I’m sorry. There’s nothing else Akechi-kun or I can do with the resources we have in the real world.” Sae sighed as she looked away guilty, “I hate to ask this but we need more help. The only way I can see a path forward is if you can do something in the Metaverse one last time.”

“I thought this might have to happen after how badly things went the first day.” Goro ran his thumb over the lip of his cup, “But I wanted to try doing things the honest way. I wanted to leave the Metaverse out of any further work but it’s unavoidable after all.” 

“You should have said something sooner,” Ann sighed with a smile to Goro, “We know you like to try solving impossible problems by yourself but we’re a team. Remember?” 

“Yeah.” Goro nodded. 

“So, the question is what are we going to do? Should we just chance the hearts of all of Shido’s people?” Ann questioned. 

“That would take time, time I don’t think we have.” Goro shook his head,” Like Sae-san said, we could be descended on in the middle of the night. Even if I were to give all the names of the ones I know about there are still more I don’t.”

“We don’t have enough information,” Futaba agreed bitterly. 

“With the power we have can we actually do this?” Yusuke questioned, “We’ve only been able to target people one at a time. We’re no match for a national power.” 

“There is one thing we can try,” Morgana said after a long pause, “Mementos. If we use that we might be able to do something. It’s the palace of the general public so if there’s anything we can do that’s the place to look.” 

“Change the people.” Goro nodded. 

“Since it’s the source of all distortions we may find something in there to change the cognition of everyone.” Akira guessed. 

“Exactly.” Morgana agreed. 

“You guys are saying there may be a treasure in Mementos?!” Makoto questioned. 

“We thought about it when we reached the bottom last time.” Futaba said, “But it was just a guess.” 

“It’s a good guess.” Morgana said, “If we have a shot at making sure Shido is brought to justice we should focus on the public’s cognition rather than the people around him.” 

“Taking the treasure of Mementos would cause the whole thing to collapse wouldn’t it?” Goro asked. 

“Yes. The state of society would change.” Morgana agreed, “Everyone’s hearts would grow to hold Shido responsible for his actions, and with that things can start going our way.”

“It’s a bold plan and rests on a lot of assumptions, but I don’t think we have many other choices.” Yusuke hummed.

“If we do this there’s one thing everyone needs to realize,” Morgana said before being met with confused expressions. He let out a sigh then continued, “Let’s start with this, why does something like human cognition exist as another, substantial, world? We will likely find the reason for that in Mementos and when we take that treasure we’ll be destroying that.” 

“We’d be destroying the Metaverse.” Goro summarized, “We wouldn’t be able to sneak into palaces anymore.” 

“Exactly.” Morgana motioned at Goro.

“That would mean if other criminals appear we won’t be able to steal their treasure or change their hearts.” Akira touched his chin as he thought about how he wouldn’t really like to go back to feeling powerless.

“It means that if we do it this way, the Phantom Thieves are going out of business.” Haru said with a note of sadness, “We would have to discard this way of life.”

“We have to do this though, don’t we?” Ann stood up, “We can just let Shido get away with everyone, and besides that we’re a group of thieves who’s ultimate goal is reforming society right?” 

All eyes turned to Akira now who suddenly felt like a lot of responsibility was put on him, “Uh,” Akira looked down to Goro who only offered him a sleepy smile, “Well, Ann said it about right. We don’t have a choice.” 

“Well, I think that means we have no objections.” Morgana nodded. 

“It sounds like you’ve come up with a plan.” Sae looked from Morgana to the group.

“How weird did it look that we just spent the last ten minutes talking to a cat?” Akira had to ask.

“Very strange.” Sae nodded, “But if you have a plan then I’m not going to question it.” 

“Whether this plan succeeds or not is another story.” Makoto sighed, “We’re going to try our best.” 

“This looks like it’ll be our last job.” Ryuji rolled his shoulder, “So when we finish it it’ll be on you to get that bastard Shido.” 

“What do you mean your last job?” Sae asked. 

“We’re erasing the Metaverse.” Akira explained. 

“Get Shido for us.” Goro smiled weakly.

“Once we accomplish our goal, we’ll be entrusting the world to respectful adults.” Haru explained, “This is our condition for accepting this job.” 

“Well said.” Yusuke agreed. 

“So this is a ‘deal’ then. It’s a very heavy condition,” Sae looked around at everyone seriously, “but very well. I accept. I swear to make Masayoshi Shido stand trial in a court of law.” 

“I’ll also be leaving things to you Sae-san.” Goro nodded, “I think I’ll focus on my studies instead, and my own life.” 

“I understand, I’ll miss your valuable input.” Sae smiled sweetly, “I’ll make sure Shido is brought to proper justice. My pride won’t allow for me to keep being saved by you all without paying back my debt.” 

“Looks like it’s decided then.” Sojiro nodded, “I can’t do anything more for you kids than support you like this so I wish you good luck.” 

“Thanks Boss.” Akira flashed him a smile then turned to everyone else, “Let’s fix this country. For real this time. We’ll start this final mission tomorrow. I want everyone to go home and sleep. Except you, you’re staying right here with me.” Akira pointed to Goro.

“I’m sure this is a rather cheesy line but I’m too tired to care,” Goro offered a pretext to his next words, “I’m home whenever I’m with you.”

Akira felt his face flush deep red in a second as he sputtered to try and find something he could say in return but he was at a loss for even words at this point. Around him he could hear a mix of gagging and swoons but he was too far gone to care, “Y-you--” Akira finally found a word that still existed in his vocabulary, “Damn it I love you so much!” Akira grabbed Goro by the sides of his face to kiss him, earning another round of reactions. He could hear someone taking pictures too but he didn’t care. 

Akira loved this man in front of him so fucking much and everyone was going to know it. After a few seconds of holding him Akira separated, his face still red and everyone looking at the two of them with smiles, “Showing off a romantic kiss like that... we can’t possibly fail tomorrow.” Ann teased, “I want to plant one of those on Shiho too!”

“Let’s head home.” Makoto stood, “Good night everyone. We’ll meet in Shibuya first thing after school.” 

Once everyone was gone Akira helped Goro up to his room to sit him on the bed, “I’ll get you a change of clothes.” Akira said as he stepped back to dig through his box of clothes for yet another spare set of lounge wear. 

“I… I feel like I’ve been involuntarily acting more tired than I actually am.” Goro said once he took his vest off, “Like being around you makes me lower my guard.”

“I’ll take that as a good thing.” Akira makes his way back over to Goro to give him some clothes.

“Hey, uhm, guys?” Morgana questioned from the stairs. 

“Hey Mona, come in.” Goro motioned, “We’re going to the bottom tomorrow. Are you nervous?” 

“A little…” Morgana walked over to Akira’s bed then jumped up onto it to sit next to Goro, “You look exhausted. Maybe I should wait...”

“Just say what you want to,” Akira sat on the other side next to Morgana, “Now’s the best time.”

“Honestly,” Morgana paused, “you two are amazing. You both have this super special power and it draws people to you. Not just that but you’ve made it out of mess after mess. Anything someone’s thrown at you, you manage to dodge out of the way like it’s your destiny.” 

“I dunno about that, I did get the shit beat out of me by the cops,” Akira rubbed his wrists.

“And I’m still a target for consistent blackmail.” Goro nodded. 

“You know what I mean,” Morgana shook his head, “Seriously. At first I just kind of thought of Akira as a useful tool for me. I admit that it wasn’t a great line of thought considering recent events, but…” Morgana looked between them, “With you guys I know this is where I belong.”

“Weren’t you just saying the other day that you were going to try leaving us?” Goro questioned with a smirk. 

“I guess I did…” Morgana looked like he felt embarrassed.

“Just stay here with us forever.” Akira ran a hand down Morgana’s spine making him arch up into the touch, “You’re an important member of the team, and you’re my friend. None of this would have been possible without you.”

“Akira’s right,” Goro smiled, “The most charismatic member of the team.” 

“Are you making fun of me?” Morgana’s tail flicked in annoyance, “I guess it’s fine, for tonight at least.”

“It’s fine any night.” Akira scratched the space between Morgana’s ears making him purr.

“You’re family.” Goro said, making both Akira and Morgana look at him with some surprise, “What?” 

“Nothing just…” Akira reached up to play with his bangs, “I just…” 

“You know,” Morgana decided to speak up, “I like that. Family. Not the one we’re born with but the one we found.” Morgana looked down at his paws, “I’m home.” Suddenly Akira sensed a change in Morgana. He’d felt this before with many of his other friends who were part of the Phantom Thieves. Morgana was awakening to another more powerful version of his own persona. 

After a moment Morgana looked up, “I feel like I’ve gained a new power… I think we’ll be okay tomorrow. We should rest soon.”

“Yes.” Goro agreed as he stood to change, “I think I may skip school myself and sleep a bit longer here. If that’s alright?” Goro looked at Akira, “I’ll meet you at the station with everyone else.” 

“Okay.” Akira nodded before he also got up to change. Once they were done and settled in bed Akira wrapped his arms around Goro to hold him close. A dip in the bed alerted Akira to Morgana joining them before he made his way into the empty space around their heads, “Tomorrow we change the country.” 

“Good night guys.” Morgana settled down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> words
> 
> I had a very kind person in my discord server draw a lil comic panel to go with goro dropping his cheesy line! I'm a fan of the follow up after with Akira's sputtering. so i share this with you guys! Thank you again Reflet![twitter link to comic page](https://twitter.com/GoldenDeerFE3H/status/1348093487250608132) please feel free to DM me, @ me, or even comment here with any art you want to share. We have a second in the discord where i put fan art of my works or or works in general of the very talented people who make amazing art!
> 
> preview: _“It’s supposedly called the ‘Prison of Regression.’ I have my doubts about this really being a prison. Do any of us look like we’re really in captivity?” Shido questioned leaning on the bars still staring at Goro, “Why don’t you join me son? We can make up for time lost. Start over as a family here.”_
> 
> _“I would love nothing more than to put a bullet in your head.” Goro snapped with rage dripping from every word. “Don’t you ever call me son again.” Akira approached Goro to touch his shoulder and pull him back away from Shido._


	35. down and down and down we go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> down into mementos to find it's treasure the phantom thieves find something else. is this something that they can actually fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> owo

The blue hue of the Velvet Room dragged Akira out of his dreamless sleep. He laid on his metal slab of a bed for a few seconds just staring at the ceiling before he let out a sigh and moved to get up. 

Once he sat up Caroline hit the bars with her guard stick as she did many times before. She seemed irritated about something but Akira couldn’t figure out what. He looked over as both twins moved closer to the cell door to look at him. Akira looked past them to Igor and then above him to the dead flower. It looked worse than before. Petals began to fall from it though they carefully avoided landing on Igor or his table.

“That was a fruitless delight, Inmate!” Caroline shouted at him as Akira stood to approach the door. 

“We gave you words of praise, but we take them all back!” Justine said next only confusing Akira even more. 

“What’s got you two so upset?” Akira questioned but rather than answer him Igor spoke.

“The source of what’s been hindering your rehabilitation,” Igor said, “well, one of them at any rate, to think it would be the ignorant masses to which you tried to prove your integrity.” 

“And the other?” Akira asked. 

“It matters little now,” Igor dismissed, then continued, “the people showed such elation for those who are unseen yet now they say you do not exist. They toyed with you, yet none take responsibility. The distortion of man’s world is endlessly deep.” 

“Is that you telling me that there’s no bottom to Mementos?” Akira gripped the bars. 

“I did not say that.” Igor shook his head, “There is a bottom though it may not be what you expect or what you are seeking. Trying to fix it may now be impossible. Even with the appearance of a Trickster… or two.” 

“Two… You mean Goro don’t you?” Akira asked, “He’s got the same power as I do. Why isn’t he a guest?” 

“He’s of little consequence now.” Igor shook his head. 

“Master?” Caroline turned to Igor to question.

“Why did we not know of this second Trickster?” Justine asked, holding her clipboard close.

“It seems this is the limit of humanity…” Igor was ignoring them all now. Akira didn’t like this, there was something wrong here. When Akira questioned what he meant Igor said, “The time of ruin is nigh. Ruin due to the distortion of man’s own heart, from which none can escape.” 

“We’re going to--!” Akira tried to speak but suddenly he was falling back into a deep sleep. He couldn’t tell Igor what they were trying to do. He couldn’t tell him to hold out hope for them a little longer. Instead Akira fell back into a dreamless sleep that he was only drawn out of when he felt warm lips on his coupled with the sound of ringing. 

Akira’s eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly startling Morgana awake and making Goro grumble a complaint about cold. Akira looked around to the two in his bed before looking around his room as if he was going to find some kind of answer here to what Igor had said. 

Ruin was coming.

It was something Chihaya had told him months and months ago. He’d chalked it up to crazy fortune teller talk and dumb luck at the time but maybe she had a point. “Cold.” Goro mumbled again, pulling the blanket from around Akira to bundle up and turn over.

“He’s not going anywhere.” Morgana said as he got up and stretched, “Today’s the last big heist, you ready?” 

Akira looked at Morgana wondering if he should talk about his dream or the Velvet Room but if he started that there’d be no time. No, he needed to get ready and go, “Yeah. We got this.” Akira turned back to Goro to lean over and find his face among the bundle of blankets, “I’m going to get ready to go now.” 

“Kiss.” Goro pulled the blankets down to unearth his face and turned toward Akira to get his demanded kiss.

“I love you,” Akira said after they parted, “ I’ll see you in Shibuya later.” 

“Hmm.” Goro sounded before Akira got up to quietly get changed and then headed down stairs to catch Sojiro watching the news. 

“He’s going to sleep a bit longer.” Akira motioned his head upstairs, “Sorry to leave him but I feel like I really gotta go to school today.” 

“I get it.” Sojiro shook his head, “He’ll be safe here. I’ll keep the TV down.” 

“Thanks.” Akira took his phone out to check the time before putting it away, “I’m going to head out early. We might be back pretty late.” 

“Just make sure you come back,” Sojiro smiled, “You know, once all of this is over you’re welcome to stay here. Even after your probation is up.” 

Akira paused to stare at Sojiro for a minute before smiling in return, “I know I am. Thanks for making sure I knew.” Akira’s smile faded a little as he thought about what he would like to do versus what he needed to, “I’ll go home. For a little while at least. There’s stuff I need to do there before I can come back here.” 

“I get it.” 

“I will come back.” Akira promised, “Tonight, and when my probation is over. You’ve really been more of a dad to me than my own ever has been.” 

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Sojiro put his hands on his hips, “I think I manage to raise some pretty good kids.” 

“You do.” Akira laughed, “Thanks _dad._ ” Akira teased, “Alright I gotta go. Wish us luck.” 

“Good luck. Let me know about your exam results. I’ll have something special waiting for you if you did well.”

“HA. I’m always at the top of my class.” Akira adjusted his glasses. 

“Well that sounds like sushi then.”

“We’ll hold you to that!” Akira waved before he left.

Once Akira got to his transfer line he ran into Makoto. She looked worried but overall she seemed to be alright, “Good morning. Ready for this afternoon?” 

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Akira admitted, “Goro’s still sleeping back at Leblanc so he’ll actually be ready. Your sister get any sleep?” 

“Yeah. She was still asleep when I left as well.” Makoto brushed her hair back behind her ear, “They really tried hard to get that case to work.” 

“I’m proud of them for getting as much done as they did.” Akira shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Yes. I’m sure Sis still wishes she could see this through to the end like Goro-kun can.” Mkoto watched the people walk by them, “You know he helped me recently.” Makoto said randomly. 

“Goro?” 

“Mm-hm. I was kind of zoning out in Shibuya when he found me. I was trying to think of what schools I should go to then got caught in a loop of wondering if I should even bother if we’re all going to end up arrested or worse.” Makoto explained with a sad chuckle. “He bought me dinner and we talked about options. He started to tell me about his experiences with working as a detective with the public security.” Akira waited to let Makoto continue telling her story, “Something he said really kind of helped me change my mind.” 

“Change your mind?” Akira questioned. 

“What the police did to you is horrible and no matter how much I want to change things from the inside out by becoming police commissioner there’s no promise I’ll make it that, nor that I’ll get there and still have the same morals. After what you went through I can’t rightly pursue being a police officer without worrying that it’ll drive a wedge between us.” 

Akira fell quiet for a long time as he thought of what to say before he decided he just needed to be honest, “He’s probably right. I might not feel it much now but… I’ve been starting to think of solutions I can use to problems normal people would involve the cops with. I don’t want their help. I can’t trust them with the exception of maybe two ever but who knows if that’ll change.” 

“I thought so.” Makoto nodded, “I’m glad you could be honest with me actually. I was wondering if you were just going to say whatever you thought I needed to hear to keep going forward. You’ve changed a lot.” Makoto smiled holding her bag close, “I think I’ll become a defense attorney. I’ll still be practicing law in a way that can be used to help people. I think I’ll specialize in youth cases.”

“I think you’d make an amazing lawyer.” Akira smiled as he could feel the anxiety of this conversation bleed from him. He’d been worried Makoto would hate him for telling her he agreed with Goro. He was just glad that she had another idea of what she could do to still help people and in Akira’s opinion it was a much better choice. “What do you mean by changed?”

“Before I noticed you kind of act however people in front of you need you to act. You try to appease everyone. I think before you would have just told me what I wanted to hear, not what I needed. I think Goro-kun has been good for you. You’re being you for you not for someone else. I like it better.” Makoto smiled warmly. “Alright, there’s the train, let’s go before we’re late.” Makoto pointed as their train pulled in and they set off to school.

Once he actually got to school Akira felt like it was actually a huge waste of time. Sure he got his scores and as always he was top of the class, hell he’d made top of the school somehow, but he couldn’t celebrate that. He was worried about Goro and what happened in the Velvet Room and how their trip down into the furthest parts of mementos would go. It was honestly stressing Akira out to the point he had to run to the bathroom to take his anxiety medication and sit on a toilet for most of lunch.

He was about to leave the bathroom stall he’d been hiding in when the door opened and someone else came in. Akira drew his legs up to his chest, not really in the mood for someone to know he was in there, but a familiar voice spoke to him through the door. 

“Mona said you were in here.” Ryuji’s voice came through, “You’re worried about going into Mementos.” Akira said nothing as he stared at the door in front of him, picturing Ryuji leaning against it, "I know you tend to bottle up how you’re feeling so you don’t worry the others. After that whole hanahaki thing I’ve pretty much got you figured out.” Ryuji said and Akira felt the verbal slap to the face, “You don’t gotta hide it. Knowing you’re freaking out too kinda makes me feel better? You’re not some ultra stoic dude who takes everything like a punching bag, you’re just a teenager like me.” 

Akira looked away from the door to rub a thumb over the fabric of his pants. Did they really think of him like that? Or rather, had they thought of him like that? Makoto had something earlier to the same tone. 

“When we came up with that plan to fake your death I was scared to fuckin’ death you weren’t gunna make it.” Ryuji admitted with a disbelieving laugh, “I was fuckin’ terrified that Goro was gunna put a bullet in your head then come after the rest of us and we wouldn’t have been able to stop him. But we made it out alive and he’s totally a different dude. You know he helped save me and my mom from getting evicted?” 

Akira perked up at that, raising an eyebrow as he considered leaving his stall of safety to listen, "Yeah, uh, the landlord made a move on her, and when she didn’t take to it he tried to get us kicked out. Goro caught me on one of the days I was lookin’ for a place for us to move to but it was tough. Ma doesn’t have the best credit after all the shit we’ve been through. And we don’t got a whole lot so we probably would have had to leave Tokyo completely. I couldn’t lie about what I was doin’ ‘cuz I was just so fuckin’ stressed. Goro dug up all the dirt on that landlord so fast…” Ryuji let out another hollow laugh, “needless to say his wife wasn’t too happy to find out her husband was a sleazeball. She apologized to my mom and even deferred our rent for three months as some kinda apology.” 

“I… I didn’t know.” Akira finally said. 

“Yeah, it wasn’t that I asked him not to tell you, I think he decided that all on his own. I guess we actually get along now which is fuckin’ wild. Hell I’m callin’ him Goro now.” Ryuji kicked the floor before pushing away from the door to move away from the stall, “All I’m tryin’ to say is that you’ve really got something special about you. You helped save all of us, and then your boyfriend comes through with the backup… We might not be Phantom Thieves after all this, but no matter what you’re my bro. It’s okay to be sacred. I got your back.” 

Akira looked down at his hands before he decided to get up and leave the stall. Once he came out he got a good look at Ryuji who had actually been crying. He forced the biggest grin he could before Akira came in to give him a tight hug, “Thanks Ryujij.” 

“Anything to help.” Ryuji gave Akira a firm pat on the back as they hugged it out for a minute.

After school let out Ann and Akira waited at the front of the school for the others. She was braiding a bit of her hair as they waited but she looked like she had something on her mind, “You know, aside from you and Shiho I think Goro-kun might be one of my best friends.” Ann admitted. 

“Really?” Akira looked to her with a bit of surprise on his face, “When did that happen?” 

“A little while after he joined us,” Ann ran her fingers through her hair to loosen the braids then start again, “I was coming home from a shoot and he invited me out for crepes. You know me. I can’t say no to that.” Ann giggled, “But we get along really well actually. We’re both used to a bit of extra media attention, he handles his stuff way better than I do. I started to ask him for tips on it and it turned into semi-weekly meetups to talk about it.”

“When it came out that he was trying to kill you I just couldn’t believe it. Even before Ryuji told me about your hanahaki in Hawaii I thought you two made a good pair. He really brings out the best of you. I feel like I really see the real you when it’s you two together. I like it.” Ann nudged Akira’s arm, “So thinking that he wanted to kill you? I didn’t believe it at all. I was the one who pointed out it sounded like he was being coerced.” Ann loosened her braids again before pushing her hair back off her shoulder, “I’m super glad it was what I thought and that you two hooked up. Goro-kun is a part of our team and has been for a long time. I don’t think any of this would be the same without him.” 

“I have to agree.” Akira nodded, “I have to ask, did you all plan little talks with me today or?” 

“Huh?” 

“Makoto and Ryuji talked to me about stuff too. About how they’re glad I’m alive and how Goro’s helped them through stuff.” Akira took his glasses off to clean them. “Feels like everyone’s taking a turn.”

“I didn’t plan it but if I had to guess I bet it’s because everyone’s feeling on edge. They want to tell you stuff because you’ve always been the one we turn to, or Goro-kun, and he’s not here so…” 

“I wouldn’t say that,” Morgana popped out of Akira’s bag to point down the road at a familiar head of brunette hair.

“What’s he doing here?” Akira pushed off the wall he had been leaning against as Goro approached. A few students who recognized Goro stopped to whisper to one another then follow him back toward the school as he approached Akira,” Sleep well?” 

“I’m well rested.” Goro nodded glancing back at the small number of girls who were gossiping excitedly, “Looks like I’m still popular here.” 

“I can’t blame them. Not every day they get to see a good lookin’ guy like you.” Akira chuckled, “We’re just waiting for everyone else to come out.”

“I figured. I didn’t want to just stand around Shibuya waiting so I thought I’d try the cliche of meeting your significant other outside the school gates though I seemed to have missed the mark a little.” Goro smiled and the girls nearby began to make pained sounds at his admission to an S.O. They probably thought it was Ann.

“I wish Shiho could do that for me.” Ann sighed, folding her arms looking wistful, “She’s moved too far away for that to be possible. We can still meet up for weekends at least. Just not every day.” 

“We’ll count ourselves lucky.” Goro frowned at the girls still hovering around. He was probably becoming annoyed with them. They didn’t know him and just liked his face or the way he smiled during a TV show. Akira considered a public display of affection to get them to leave but he didn’t want to force that on Goro if he wasn’t ready. 

Hell, Akira wasn’t sure he was ready. Goro was a _minor_ celebrity, but nonetheless he was a celebrity. There was a high chance that they’d end up news for the next tabloid if they did that here. Then there would be little between him and his parents really finding out what he was.

Akira was deep in thought about this so he missed Goro reaching out to take his hand. Akira thoughtlessly accepted the hand holding and before he knew it Goro was leaning in to give him a kiss. He had a split second to decide if he wanted to take it or not. In that second he came to the decision that if he was going to die in Mementos he was going to die without a single damn regret.

He accepted Goro’s kiss, even moved his hand up to touch the side of his face as they deepened it, and to both of their pleasure many of the gathered fans let out horrified gasps. At least one denied that it was actually Goro Akechi and turned around to leave.

“Brave.” Ann clapped her hands. 

“I think it’s more along the lines of just not giving a shit what people think anymore.” Goro said once he pulled away. 

“You know me so well.” Akira waved their joined hands around with a grin.

“Can you two not do that in front of the school. We don’t need more journalists showing up here for a story.” Kawakami called from the doors before approaching them to look from Akira to Goro, “Do what you want literally anywhere else. I’m tired of talking to reporters.” 

“Sorry Kawakami-sensei.” Akira chuckled, reaching up to his bangs to twist them with a chuckle.

“I hope things have been going well for you, Kawakami-sensei.” Goro smiled. 

“You know each other?” Akira questioned. 

“Akechi-kun was kind enough to check on something for me.” Kawakami waved off, “Don’t worry about it. Why are you still here anyway? Don’t you kids have dates to plan or something?” 

“Well, something like that.” Akira made a so-so motion with his hand, “We’re just waiting for, ah here they come.” Akira waved past Kawakami to Haru, Makoto, and Ryuji as they came outside, “We’ll be taking off now.” 

“Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!” Ann said gleefully to their teacher before everyone joined together and separated. 

“Please tell me you also made buddy buddy with Iwai from the gun store, and a fortune teller in Shinjuku.” 

“No. I haven’t.” Goro shook his head, “Why?” 

“Just checking.” 

“I did talk to your doctor. She’s interesting.” Goro explained, “When I walked in she already knew I was there to pick up some healing supplies for this mess we’re about to dive into.” 

“Ah, yeah. Takemi is pretty cool.” Akira mused. They had a fun talk about different things until it came time for the party to meet with Yusuke and Futaba outside of the usual Mementos entrance. 

“About time!” Futaba stomped her foot, “I’ve had to wait here with Inari!” 

“Sorry.” Akira apologized, “Let’s head inside and get this started. Anyone want to back out? Last chance.” 

“Just push the button you dramatic bitch!” Ryuji rolled his eyes, making Akira laugh before he did as he was told to take them into the Metaverse one more time. Once they were in the Metaverse proper Akira paused at a strange message on his phone, “The door to the depths of Mementos has been opened.” Akira read. 

“Huh?” Morgana questioned. 

“It’s on the Nav.” Akira explained kneeling down to show him. 

“I think that means the last door we got to is the final one.” Morgana guessed, “Let’s get down there and find out! No one’s bailing out now right?” 

“As if we could.” Goro shook his head, “We have a mission to complete here.” 

“If we don’t do this then we’ll all be arrested or worse,” Haru said, “I’m not prepared to go to jail while my father’s murderer runs free.” 

“Same here about my mom.” Futaba agreed.

“I think it’s safe to say we’re all in this until the bitter end.” Yusuke nodded.

“Alright then!” Morgana moved away from them toward the stairs, “Let’s go find the treasure of Mementos.” 

Once down at the last door they’d seen, Ryuji wondered if all the hype they had been expecting was a little too much given that this door didn’t look all that impressive. His words were soon thrown back in his face as they descended the last steps into an enormous room with stopped trains all around them. 

“This is the bottom.” Goro looked around, “Look, those are passengers getting off the trains and going inside.” 

“That door is huge!” Ryuji shouted looking at the end of the hall. 

“See what you get for complaining Ryuji?” Futaba sighed, “This door better open.” As they reached the end of the room the door began to open for them and they all stopped to stare up in awe as the stone receded into the ceiling, “Hmmm. Hold on…” Futaba brought up her displays as she did a scan, “This door only opens from this side.” 

“Huh? Wait, what does that mean?” Ann asked. 

“From the peek I can get of the mechanism inside the door it looks like you can only open it from here. Once we go in, we won’t be able to get out the same way.” Futaba explained before her displays faded, “Basically we better be extra sure we’re ready for this.” 

“So doesn’t that mean the people going inside here are choosing to be imprisoned?” Haru noted looking up at the people going into the door from the sides.

“The idea of that is… eerie.” Yusuke folded his arms, “What is this place?” 

“We won’t figure that out from here.” Akira stepped forward to stand under the door, Morgana and Goro joining him, “Let’s head in. No going back.” 

“Right!” Ann agreed as she walked forward as well.

Once they were inside the large door closed behind them locking them in. That was not the most impressive part though. Before them were what must have been thousands of vain like tubes running in from the ceiling and walls to go down into something fall below, so far below it was well out of sight.

“What the fuck is this thing?” Ryuji asked. 

“Creepy is what.” Ann shivered, “It looks like blood.” 

“Yes,” Yusuke agreed,” The pulse seems to be not dissimilar to a heart beat, these are the pipes we’ve seen through all of Mementos aren’t they? Seeing them all joined together like this makes it clear what they must be.” Yusuke leaned over to look down the hole.

“Yeah,” Ann agreed, “Check out the walls though. Those are people in cells right?” 

“This is the kind of distortion the masses see.” Goro noted, “Everyone is in a prison of their own making.” 

“I know that feeling well.” Akira looked troubled. This felt a bit like how he was jailed in the Velvet Room, “Let’s try and find a way down. We won’t get anywhere staring at this thing.” 

The party made their way along a side path to get past a locked door which took them into the start of their crawl. However before they could get far they came to a room with a mass cell of people inside. When Akira focused he could see that each person had a ball and chain connected to them and they were each muttering something incoherent. 

“This is a prison.” Goro surmised. 

“Yeah but who is captured here?” Ryuji asked. 

“I think it may be safe to assume that it’s people’s shadows.” Haru guessed as she looked around. She stepped closer to the bars causing one of the shadows to speak more loudly. He was trying to coax her into coming inside.

“Whoa what?” Futaba gasped.

“You better not open the cell ok? I have no intention of leaving this place!” Another shadow warned them.

“Are they implying they feel safe here?” Yusuke questioned, “You’re clearly being kept in a prison, why are you content with that?” 

“It’s because as long as we stay here and behave we can stay within the system that grants us our desires.” An old man explained, “We’re safe here.” 

“They’ve all lost their will to live freely.” Morgana looked troubled. The shadows continued to talk about how it was better to live without knowledge or fear. It was better to live without knowing how things worked or why there was a locked ‘Quarantine Cell’ deeper in the depths, “A Quarantine Cell huh? Who’s in there?” Morgana questioned. 

“Supposedly a great and truly dangerous criminal.” the old man said, “But who would check on something like that? Wouldn’t you feel better coming in here to chat instead?”

“Pass.” Akira put his hands in his pockets. Just after that Morgana looked even more concerned but before he could be questioned shadows appeared to ask them what they were doing out. They were dressed like guards and carried night sticks talking about how they couldn’t be out and about without their restraints, “No one is putting me in restraints ever again.” Akira warned them before they turned into monsters and began to fight. 

Once the fight was over they decided to run. They needed to put space between them and the noise they made. After some odd puzzles and quick thinking the party found a long road that lead down even deeper. They couldn’t see the bottom and it would take them ages to walk. Morgana was on top of it though. It was just wide enough that he could turn into his bus form to drive them down instead.

The next circle of mass cells they came to drew Ann’s attention almost right away. Behind the bars stood Kamoshida looking as he did the day he confessed his crimes. To either side of him stood Madarame and Kaneshiro then even further over sat Shido staring out past the bars right at Goro.

“What is this?” Goro questioned taking a defensive stance.

“Oh, Takamaki, your bod’s as hot as always. Why don’t you come a little closer?” Kamoshida leaned up against the bars to hold a hand out toward her. 

“Ew! Hell no pervert!” Ann screamed at him as she stepped back. There was no way he could reach her but Akira didn’t blame her for keeping space.

“I was just joking,” Kamoshida pulled his hand back, “I don’t want any more trouble. I finally get to live peacefully without having to think for myself now.”

“I too can live in peace,” Madarame said next, “I thought myself talented but now I know I was just a fool for wanting too much.”

“It’s not a big wonder why people who can’t take a hint get yelled at.” Kaneshiro said next, “I’m done acting like I ain’t stupid. I’m no big shot. It’s not like you really get punished for being dumb. No one needs to strive to be more than they actually are.” 

“Why are they talking like that?” Ryuji questioned.

“It’s like the fight was taken right out of them.” Makoto said. 

“We only ever stole their warped desires. Not this.” Akira shook his head before looking over as Goro stepped closer to Shido who stood to move closer to him as well, “Crow?” 

“What is this place?” Goro asked pointedly. 

“It’s supposedly called the ‘Prison of Regression.’ I have my doubts about this really being a prison. Do any of us look like we’re really in captivity?” Shido questioned leaning on the bars still staring at Goro, “Why don’t you join me son? We can make up for time lost. Start over as a family here.” 

“I would love nothing more than to put a bullet in your head.” Goro snapped with rage dripping from every word. “Don’t you _ever_ call me son again.” Akira approached Goro to touch his shoulder and pull him back away from Shido.

“Such aggression. Aren’t you tired of caring so much?” Shido sighed, “If you were to join us you would feel the utmost freedom here. All your desires met, everything you ever wanted, here. By no longer making decisions you are released from having to think for yourself. This is so much more than I ever planned for this country. It’s… bliss.”

“You’re sick.” Goro sneered. 

“I suppose that there is no helping some of the fools who cannot stay put in this place.” Shido sighed, “But they return in good time, all do. Those escaped convicts, our past selves, all return here eventually. Such people are segregated from this peaceful world and put in their palaces where they await rehabilitation by those who can deliver it.” 

“You mean to say that by us changing your heart that you were stripped of all desires?” Futaba questioned, “Doesn't that mean we’ve been manipulated from the get go?!” 

“Calm down.” Akira called, “We’ve been reforming society to help the people who needed us. Whatever this is, we’re changing it now. No question about that. Whatever has been controlling the people ends here.”

“Right, let’s get back to looking,” Goro turned away, “Mona where do we go from… Mona?” 

Morgana wasn’t listening, he was looking around at the cells and the surroundings wearing the same troubled expression he’d been wearing the whole time, “I remember this place… I saw the humans here and realized I looked different from them. I didn’t understand why. That was when… That was when I decided I wanted to become human.” 

“Mona.” Akira stepped closer to him. It was as they had suspected. Morgana wasn’t a human at all, “Are you alright?” 

“I--Yeah.” Morgana shook his head, “It’s finally coming back to me. I’m still missing parts I can tell, but… I can say firmly now that I’m not human. I never was…” At this moment more guards showed up and another fight broke out. Once they were taken care of they proceeded further into Mementos.

They found another way down with a road for Morgana to travel and even more of the red vein like pipes from before. Down they went and past more guards until they came to yet another circle of cells. Akira was happy enough to pass right by it but before they could Haru decided to stop and point out one certain cell. It was a large door behind thick bars with a bright red light overhead. 

“You think this is the Quarantine Cell?” Makoto questioned. 

“It would make sense. It’s heavily locked and unlike the rest we can’t even see who is inside.” Goro looked thoughtful. 

“Supposedly the most dangerous and sinful inmate is within.” Yusuke repeated what they had heard before. 

“With how these people treat freedom it might just be a normal person.” Ryuji shook his head. 

“This,” Morgana got closer, “This place is familiar to me. I know this smell.” At the mention of a smell Akira got closer to smell as well. Morgana looked excited at first before his ears drooped down to the sides of his head, “There’s no mistake. I was born here.” Morgana was some kind of cat so it wasn’t weird for him to smell things others couldn’t. Honestly Akira hadn’t been expecting much but as he sniffed he also smelled something familiar. He just couldn’t place a finger on what it was.

“Does that make Mona the dangerous inmate?!” Ann asked. 

“I wasn’t the inmate.” Morgana shook his head, “I just remembered this place and how I was created here to guide all of you. 

“Inmate…” Akira repeated. He didn’t like how this was sounding so far. He’d been called an inmate by the twins in the Velvet Room since the start, and the more Akira thought about the scent coming from that door he could smell something floral and familiar. 

“I can’t remember who the inmate is,” Morgana cursed, “I’m so close to it but my memory is so foggy.” 

“We should go before we--” Goro said just before more shadow guards arrived to fight with them. Once the fight was over Goro looked at the cell again, “We have to be close to the bottom if this cell is under such heavy guard.” 

“Let’s keep moving. Mona’s memories may return in full if we continue on.” Yusuke suggested. 

“Right. Let’s reform society and free these people,” Haru said firmly before they left the area. Akira looked back once more at the Quarantine Cell and felt a chiver travel down his spine. What if that was him?

The smell before….smelled like flowers.

_______________________________________________________

“Look there,” Makoto said kneeling over the side of a ledge to look down at the newest hole in the ground. It was different though. All the veins packed tighter together before joining into a cup in the center of a large colosseum like room.

“That’s it,” Morgana said staring at the cup, “That’s the public’s treasure!” 

“It’s massive.” Ryuji complained, “How are we supposed to move something like that?” 

“Other treasures have shrunk once we touched them. This one might as well.” Yusuke said, “Let’s get down there and find out.” 

“I don’t like how it’s out on display.” Goro said, “Something doesn’t feel right.” 

“Maybe so but we won’t know until we get down there. Let’s go.” Akira said before he dropped off the edge to the ledge below them and kept moving. Everyone followed closely behind him. 

Once they were near the center of the room Akira looked around at all the cells around them. Each cell had a person inside, “Am I the only one hopin’ we get some kind of quick escape route once we take this thing?” Ryuji asked, getting closer. He touched the treasure but frowned when nothing happened, “It’s uh, not getting smaller?” 

“We might have to just destroy it.” Goro folded his arms.

“I think that should work.” Morgana agreed, “We’ll destroy the Metaverse and fix everyone’s cognitions.” As Morgana said that alarms began to go off all around them and lights began to signal from the cup.

“Hm, not too big of a surprise we’ve been discovered.” Futaba brought up her screens, “Looks like the cup itself is getting armed up, and listening to those people. They really want to let this thing rule them.” 

“I hope they’re not planning to open the cells and swarm us.” Yusuke looked around. 

“Oh they could be.” Futaba poked, “But it looks like no. Phew.” 

“I still think that the guards are too organized for the people to really be the ones in control here.” Makoto frowned just before a laugh sounded from somewhere in the room. It sent all of them on guard as a few of them grabbed their masks ready to fight.

“Who’s there?!” Ann shouted. 

“We don’t have time to worry about that. Let’s destroy this hunk of metal and worry about it later.” Ryuji pulled out his pipe.

“No time like the present.” Akira drew his dagger as well, “Give it your all. This is our last run!” 

“Right.” Morgana agreed before the fight began.

Attack after attack connected against the metal of the cup and for a moment it seemed like things were working with them. Whatever that laugh had been was apparently nothing to worry about. At least that was what Akira thought until someone in the distance started to scream at them to stop. Akira looked back toward the cells to try and figure out who it was but there was no way to know.

“Don’t touch the Holy Grail!” Another voice called in the distance. 

“Grail?” Goro questioned before the veins in the cup pulsed and it repaired itself. The finish on the cup also looked lighter as if it had been polished somehow. People continued to call for them to stop but instead the party just hit the cup harder. After another heal Ryuji kicked it instead of using his persona. 

“This fuckin’ thing keeps fixing itself! At this rate it’s never going to end!” Ryuji shouted, kicking it again. 

“It does seem hopeless if there are this many people supporting it.” Yusuke looked around at the people still shouting at them, “They called it a Holy Grail didn’t they?” 

“I heard that as well.” Goro confirmed. 

“You fools.” Suddenly a deep voice spoke from the cup, “So human, yet wishing to eradicate the desire of humanity. Repent!” Ryuji let out a yelp as he ran away from the treasure which Akira would have found funny if he hadn’t broken into a cold sweat. This voice was deeper but the way it said humanity was familiar, “I am revered as the granter of dreams for all who behold me. A being most commonly known as the Holy Grail.”

“The Prison of Regression is representative of the collective desires of humanity. They wish to be chained down, to surrender to their cognition, and to neglect the world around them. These feebleminded commonfolk will make your _social reform_ all for naught. The shared heart of the masses has fallen into indolence and turned into a prison of their own making.” the Grail explained before people around them again began to scream at them to leave it alone.

“People are really worshiping this…” Haru said worriedly. 

“The only suitable end for the people is to perish within the prison they wished for.” the Grail explained as lights began to flash on it, “You cannot deny the people.” 

“Here it comes!” Morgana warned them before it attacked as it had before sending the party to scatter around it. 

Any time they did damage to the Grail someone in the distance would scream at them to stop then then it would flash and recover again. Each time it did the cup grew less tarnished, “This is bad.” Akira said after another full recovery, “We can’t beat it like this…” 

“Don’t you dare give up!” Goro shouted at him before an attack from the Grail landed right in front of him and sent him flying back.

“GORO!” Akira shouted following after to try and help him back to his feet, “Are you hurt?” 

“I’m fine,” Goro let Akira pull him back to his feet to look at the Grail as it turned completely gold, “So long as these people around here feel like we’re just thieves…” 

“You imbeciles are intoxicated by an undesired ‘justice.’ This is the will of the children of men who have fallen into sloth.” the Grail spoke yet again, “My shine is proof that my existence is desired, and as long as humanity yearns for me, I shall never perish.” 

“This can’t be what people want!” Makoto yelled, “No one could really want to stop thinking to be guided by you! It can’t be...” Makoto’s voice was strained and sounded as if she was about to start crying.

“The humans that I look up to aren’t like that at all!” Morgana shouted from another place, “No matter how painful reality has been to them they keep trying and fighting for change! They won’t give up, and neither will I! We won’t turn back into the people we used to be. That’s why we risked our lives coming here to stop you!” 

“Well said Mona!” Yusuke called. 

“Humanity already has already had it’s wishes and distortions actualized.” the Grail almost sounded as if it were scoffing at them, “I am merely the being that will ultimately grant those wishes! I will no longer be bound to this place. I will begin my encroach upon reality itself.” The Grail then began to glow with a strange blue hue as the area around them began to rumble and shake, “You may try to fight, but like all of them you will offer your hearts to me.” Suddenly a bright white light shot from the Grail to circle around at everyone knocking them off of their feet and damaging them all considerably. 

When Akira pulled himself up to his knees he looked around at the ground they had been standing on. It seemed to be vanishing from under them. Then in another bright flash of white light Akira felt a shift. He reached out to his side for Goro who grabbed onto him as well as their bodies were moved somewhere else. 

By the time Akira was able to see again he found that they had all been put back in Shibuya where they had gone into Mementos, “No way.” Akira said not letting go of Goro’s hand, “It kicked us out?” 

“How?” Futaba questioned.

“Does this mean we lost?” Makoto asked. 

“I hate to say it but what it said before that light…” Goro touched his chin before it began to rain. Akira ignored it at first, it was cloudy out so rain wasn’t the worst and honestly he felt like a good stand in the rain might make him feel better about their loss, but Goro’s hand tightened in his, “This is…” Goro looked up. 

“What?” Haru asked then held a hand out before a blood red drop fell into her palm, “Blood?!” 

“Look at the ground!” Futaba pointed before the bone-like structures of Mementoes began to rise up out of the ground. 

Suddenly they were standing in ankle deep bloody water and large bone structures appeared all around them but none of the normal people around them seemed to react at all. Rather people were acting like the weather was perfect and talking about normal everyday things instead. There was one woman who questioned something about the Phantom Thieves before someone else asked what she was talking about at all.

“Why isn’t anyone noticing this?!” Yusuke shouted.

“It’s probably because they don’t feel like it’s weird. Their cognitions in Mementos were all happy to be imprisoned. Now that the real world looks like this they don’t care.” Makoto took a guess. 

“We have to go back into Mementos. We have to--” Akira turned to speak just as Futaba began to stumble. 

“Futaba!” Goro said with alarm as he went to her side as she fell, “What’s wrong?” 

“I feel all woozy suddenly.” Futaba held her head. 

“Let me help you up. We’ll head back to Leblanc to--” Goro stood back up to offer her his hand but suddenly fell back to his knees as well. Akira took a step toward the two of them before he was slammed with what they must have been feeling as well. His head felt like it was on fire but his body felt as if it were freezing.

Akira couldn’t focus on anything but the pain until he heard Ryuji scream. He snapped his eyes up to look at what had Ryuji so scared to find that his hand was completely see-through. Next to him Ann’s leg started to vanish and when Akira glanced around each of them was starting to disappear. 

“G-Goro!” Akira called for his boyfriend trying to reach him but as he went to move his legs gave away. They were vanishing too. 

“Akira!” Goro turned toward him to try and reach as well only to have the same problem. He started to drag his body closer, reaching out with a slowly vanishing hand as Akira tried to mirror him. They had almost reached one another when the Grail’s voice spoke to them yet again.

“This is not my doing,” It laughed at them, “You imbeciles are about to disappear from the people’s cognition. Mementos and reality have become one. As such, those who have disappeared from cognition cannot exist anywhere.” The Grail explained as Akira finally reached Goro’s hand but his simply fell through the other’s. 

“Akira!” Goro said with a pain and panic in his voice, “I’m sorry for anything I ever did to hurt you! I’m sorry! I lov--” Before Goro could finish his sentence he vanished before Akira’s eyes. 

“N-no! Goro!” Akira tried to reach for where Goro had vanished. 

“Akira I still--” Yusuke spoke before he too vanished then one after another the party vanished.. 

“Is this my fault for bringing you all there?” Morgana questioned tearfully.

“It’s not your fault!” Akira tried to reach for Morgana now. If he could hold onto at least one person it would be okay. He had to, “Morgana give me your paw!” 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean this. This mission… is a failure.” Morgana said tearfully before he too vanished. 

“Morgana!” Akira reached for him but he was gone. Everyone was gone. Akira looked around as no one even realized that screaming teenagers had vanished from the street. He turned over to lay on his back and stare at the red sky above as he waited for his own vanishing to come. He closed his eyes to hasten things until he felt nothing anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ramping up to the end of the OG game at last. the next chapter is a long one bc of some interaction stuff i did then we move into killing god and the third semester. i'm also writing a new multi-chapter fic now. i'm on like. chapter 4 and working with my beta to make sure that it's a good story since i'm not following the game and i'm making it something of my own. i hope some of you decide to read it when it comes out! i'll leave u now and see you tuesday! :D 
> 
> preview: __  
> “Don’t do this!” Akira begged.
> 
> _“You can beg all you like,” Caroline shook her head, “Your fate has been decided. You are to be executed by order of our master.”_
> 
> _“Fuckfuckfuck.” Akira mumbled. He needed to shake this off, he needed to get up and he needed to find the others. He couldn’t just die here. He wasn’t going to give up now._
> 
> _‘So you’re ready to fight even a God are you?’ Arsene’s voice came to Akira suddenly, ‘Very well. I will aid you yet again. Let us pull God from the heavens into the furthest depths of Hell!’_


	36. just threw hands with a 12y/o what up?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akira awakens to learn that he's supposedly failed a game he didn't know he was a part of. failure is punishable by death so now akira has to try to shake free of whatever is holding him back to stop the twins from killing him and expose igor for what he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys we're so close to being done. i'm excited and nervous.

_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _3:46pm: **Yuuki** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yuuki** : The weird stuff going on with the red rain and the bones.  
**Yuuki** : It’s got something to do with why people are acting weird right?  
**Yuuki** : I know the Phantom Thieves will save the day.  
**Yuuki** : I believe in you so don’t give up okay?!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** KASUMI YOSHIZAWA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _4:06pm: **Kasumi** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Kasumi** : Senpai the sky…!  
**Kasumi** : It’s because of something to do with the Metaverse right?  
**Kasumi** : You said you’d tell me!  
**Kasumi** : Please be safe!  
**Kasumi** : I need you to be!  
**Kasumi** : I believe in the Phantom Thieves and in you!  
**_{The chat thread has been closed.}_**

**_ CHIHAYA MIFUNE _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _4:14pm: **Chihaya** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Chihaya** : the Cards can’t explain what is happening..  
**Chihaya** : all they can tell me is that our fate is in your hands..  
**Chihaya** : the hands of the phantom thieves..  
**Chihaya** : i’ll ask the Cards again if they see your victory..  
**Chihaya** : but even if they don’t i know you’ll win..  
**Chihaya** : i believe in you..  
**_{The chat thread has been closed.}_**

**_ MUNEHISA IWAI _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _4:21pm: **Iwai** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Iwai** : Hey kid.  
**Iwai** : You better be alright.  
**Iwai** : I’ll see you at the shop after Christmas.  
**Iwai** : So clean up this red shit already like I know you can.  
**_{The chat thread has been closed.}_**

**_ TAE TAKEMI _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _4:30pm: **Takemi** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Takemi** : You can’t catch a break can you?  
**Takemi** : Hanahaki and now the end of the world?  
**Takemi** : Just don’t die okay?  
**Takemi** : You beat your hanahaki. You’ll beat this too.  
**Takemi** : I believe in you.  
**_{The chat thread has been closed.}_**

**_ SADAYO KAWAKAMI _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _4:34pm: **Kawakami** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Kawakami** : I don’t know what is going on but I do know that things aren’t good.  
**Kawakami** : I know you’ll fix this.  
**Kawakami** : And when you’re back I’ll have to treat you to something good.  
**Kawakami** : Your final exam placement was the best in the school you know?  
**Kawakami** : Make sure you come back in one piece. I believe in you.  
**_{The chat thread has been closed.}_**

**_ ICHIKO OHYA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _4:40pm: **Ohya** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Ohya** : you know thsi woudl make a great storee if it woudln’t makje me sounf crazy  
**Ohya** : so liek  
**Ohya** : put things beck ok?  
**Ohya** : o belfive in yui  
**_{The chat thread has been closed.}_**

**_ SHINYA ODA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _4:41pm: **Shinya** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Shinya** : every1 is completely ignoring all this blood stuff & bone stuff.  
**Shinya** : not even my mom can c it.  
**Shinya** : but i bet ur fighting it rn huh?  
**Shinya** : kick it’s butt!  
**Shinya** : i believe iin u!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ HIFUMI TOGO _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _4:55pm: **Hifumi** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Hifumi** : The world is wrong.  
**Hifumi** : It’s like I’m playing a game of shogi but all the pieces are against me and I only have nine verses a hundred.  
**Hifumi** : But you’re resilient.  
**Hifumi** : You will win.  
**Hifumi** : I believe in it.  
**_{The chat thread has been closed.}_**

**_ TAKUTO MARUKI _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _5:06pm: **Maruki** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Maruki** : I don’t know what is happening but I do know it’s not supposed to.  
**Maruki** : This is some kind of warped cognition isn’t it?  
**Maruki** : Fight it.  
**Maruki** : Fight it for all of us.  
**Maruki** : You have my support.  
**_{The chat thread has been closed.}_**

**_ TORANOSUKE YOSHIDA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _5:14pm: **Yoshida** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yoshida** : THE WORLD LOOKS AS IF IT’S GONE TO HELL.  
**Yoshida** : BUT YOU’RE DOING YOUR WORK AS USUAL AREN’T YOU?  
**Yoshida** : YOU ARE THE YOUTH THAT WILL LEAD US TO A BRIGHTER TOMORROW.  
**Yoshida** : PLEASE RIGHT THE WORLD SO WE ADULTS MAY FIX THE REST.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ SOJIRO SAKURA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _5:24pm: **Sojiro** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Sojiro** : what the hell is this stuff?  
**Sojiro** : are you and futaba ok?  
**Sojiro** : please.  
**Sojiro** : all of you come back safely.  
**Sojiro** : i’ll have coffee and curry for you all when you come back.  
**_{The chat thread has been closed.}_**

**_ SAE NIIJIMA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _5:56pm: **Sae** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Sae** : This is because of what I asked you to do isn’t it?  
**Sae** : All I can do is believe that it’s working.  
**Sae** : That things get worse before they get better.  
**Sae** : I believe in you all.  
**Sae** : I’ll be waiting for you.  
**_{The chat thread has been closed.}_**

__________________________________________________

He was alive. This was the first thought that came to Akira when he opened his eyes to the familiar blue of the Velvet Room. He took in a deep breath to fill his lungs with air and the familiar scent from the depths of Mementos. He knew now without a doubt where he was, what he was, but he didn’t understand why.

Akira sat up to look over at Igor through the bars of his cell. Before he could even get to his feet Igor was speaking to him and though the voice was not nearly as deep, Akira knew what it was, “In the end, your rehabilitation could not be carried through. I seemed to have overestimated you and your abilities.” Akira looked around as the flower over the light was gone now and the roots in the other cells turned to piles of dust inside. Something still had the lingering scent of camellias though. Where was it?

“Is that so?” Akira asked dryly as he got to his feet and approached the bars, “Where are my teammates?” 

Igor did not answer him, instead he let out a low chuckle as Caorline hit his cell bars once again, “You’re completely incompotent!” 

“All the assistance we provided to you was all for naught.” Justine shook her head sadly. 

“Humans are much more apathetic than I thought them to be, so much more… foolish.” Igor tapped his fingers on his desk, “Soon the world will see its ruin.” 

“What do you mean ruin?!” Akira shook the bars which rattled the chains. 

“You have lost the game!” Igor announced loudly. 

“This isn’t a fucking game you prick!” Akira snapped, “My friends, my family, my boyfriend, everyone I love… They’re not just pieces in a fucking game!” 

“You were meant to bring change to mankind as a Trickster, but that task was too much for you.” Igor ignored Akira’s shouting, “In accordance with the game’s rules, the defeated must pay a price. Your price will be your life.” 

“The fuck?!” Akira stepped back from the door.

“I sentence you to be executed!” Igor commanded, “God’s decree is absolute after all…” 

“You’re it aren’t you?” Akira hissed.

“My experiment has come to naught.” Igor looked bored, “I shall end this forthwith. Girls, grant that man a swift death.”

“I-If that’s what our master wishes.” Caroline looked to the ground. 

“You can’t be serious!” Akira looked at her.

“It’s your own fault for not being an upstanding prisoner!” Caroline weakly hit the bars. Her heart wasn’t in it, Akira could tell and hoped that maybe this would be what he needed to get them on his side.

“That might be true but,” Justine looked uneasy as Igor demanded again that they kill him, “Are we really going to kill him?” 

“Don’t falter now!” Caroline reached to grab Justine by her tie to pull her close, “It’s his fault for losing the game!” With a swift strike Caroline slammed her stick against the bars again though this time an electric current carried through it. 

This was bad. They really were going to kill him and he couldn’t summon his persona here. Akira backed away as far as he could before Justine opened the door and Caroline grabbed him to drag him out toward the guillotine. The two of them stood before him as if to read him his last rights. When Akira tried to get up, Caroline gave him a quick shock that paralyzed his whole body, “Don’t do this!” Akira begged. 

“You can beg all you like,” Caroline shook her head, “Your fate has been decided. You are to be executed by order of our master.” 

“Fuckfuckfuck.” Akira mumbled. He needed to shake this off, he needed to get up and he needed to find the others. He couldn’t just die here. He wasn’t going to give up now.

‘ _So you’re ready to fight even a God are you?’_ Arsene’s voice came to Akira suddenly, ‘ _Very well. I will aid you yet again. Let us pull God from the heavens into the furthest depths of Hell!’_

Suddenly Akira felt a surge of power run through him. He shook off the hazy feeling over his body then pushed himself up to his feel with some trouble. Once he was up a flash of blue fire overcame his body and he stood once more in his Phantom Thief costume with his mask once more on his face. He heard something behind him break and when he glanced back his cell door had been blown wide open. 

He didn’t have time to think about what that must have meant. He needed to focus on the twins in front of him. He didn’t want to hurt them but he needed to fight them so he could look for the others, or at the very least fight Igor.

“How insolent!” Caroline tapped her shoulder with her stick, “To think after all this you’d still dare to show your rebellious will, even here? Justine, are you ready?” 

“If our master wishes for his life to end, then it cannot be helped,” Justine raised her clipboard to her, “Death to the criminal.” They both spoke at once before launching into a fight. Akira drew his dagger but as he thought about hurting the twins he couldn’t do it. They were following Igor’s orders and it was Igor he wanted to fight. 

“Please just stop!” Akira begged but Caroline covered the distance between them to hit him in the side with her baton to which Justine followed up with withdrawing a piece of paper from her clipboard to send a fire spell right at Akira.

“I won’t hurt you!” Akira said, holding his side.

“This power…” Justine looked at her papers, “Caroline this is just as I thought!” Igor stood behind them watching as his attendants battered Akira. His smile did not so much as twitch as he kept his hand set against his chin. 

“I told you not to falter Justine! Are you going against our master’s orders!” Caroline snapped at her sister before she ran in to attack Akira again, this time trying to aim for his head. Akira rose his arm to try blocking the attack from connecting and actually heard an audible crack when the metal connected with it. The pain from the fracture ripped through his whole body but he had no time to worry about it. He needed to try and convince them to stop.

“Please.” Akira begged, “He’s a fake!” 

“Fake?” Caroline questioned before Justine’s icy attack knocked Akira off of his feet. 

“This… This isn’t right Caroline.” Justine shook her head, “We are not meant to kill him! Caroline you must believe me.” 

“I… I know.” Caroline looked troubled then turned to look at Igor, “I don’t know why I’m doubting but… I feel there’s more to this. Another duty left to us.” 

“I believe I said to kill him.” Igor said, sounding a bit irritated now. At some point he had come up behind Akira and as much as Akira wanted to turn around to cut him, his body just wouldn’t agree with him. The twins had really messed him up. 

“Master… have you forsaken humanity?” Caroline questioned. 

“We are wardens meant to rehabilitate prisoners. Not executioners.” Justine said firmly, earning Igor’s pointed glare, “Something speaks in my mind that tells me that our true duty is not to kill him.” 

Suddenly Akira heard another voice call out for help. He looked around trying to find the source, hoping it was one of his teammates, but when it spoke again he felt it was familiar yet he’d never quite heard it. When Akira questioned who it was, the voice spoke to him, “We are those who wish for your true rehabilitation.” The voice answered.

After the voice faded away, Akira's attention was brought back to the twins once again telling Igor they would not kill Akira. Akira was having trouble focusing completely on what was going on in front of him. He was trying to listen for that voice again but it wouldn’t come back. Instead the girls both gasped and held their heads,” Guys?” 

“We remember…” Justine announced suddenly as Caroline said next, “We were once one in the same. Cleft in two by a most malicious force.” 

“Cleft in two?” Akira questioned. 

“Yes, and to regain our true form we are the ones who will undergo execution!” Caroline pointed her stick at Igor, “You will not interfere!” 

“Just as you broke free of your captivity we shall do the same.” Justine nodded before she and Caroline walked around the guillotines to take up positions there as if committing a fusion, “Fuse us together with your own hands, Trickster.”

“Fuse?” Akira struggled to stand before Justine granted him a healing spell. It seemed to mend all of his broken and bruised bits as he was able to actually move toward them. 

“That’s right.” Caroline informed Akira, “Repay us for all the favors we’ve done in assisting your growth! Be grateful!” 

“I’ll do my best.” Akira nodded then approached the chains. He’d seen them do this countless times over the last year. He knew how to use this device better than his phone sometimes. He drew the blades to their highest point before the girls set themselves in the blade’s path. 

Akira knew how fucked up it looked to drop the guillotine blades on a pair of girls who looked like children, but it had to be done. Akira stood in front of them holding the ropes that would loosen the blades to fall. He didn’t ask if they were sure, if he did Caroline was liable to throw her stick at him again. Instead he closed his eyes and pulled the blades loose, dropping them on their necks. Rather than hear a crunch or a splat all Akira heard was the metal slamming back down into their places. 

Akira looked up to watch as butterflies made of white light began to gather together and take a shape before exploding out with great force. Akira raised a hand to shield his eyes just before the blast of white light. Once it faded he looked before him to a new girl. Her hair was long and white just as the twins had been, and her clothes blue as the Velvet Room itself.

Around the room red flowers bloomed once again. The camellia that had died overhead returned in full force but not as a sign of Akira’s impending death. No. He knew that these flowers were proof that he had overcome another obstacle and proof that he was alive and free just as the twins were. Akira’s eyes rested on the girl before he asked, “Who are you?” 

“My name is Lavenza.” the girl in blue bowed to him, “I was torn apart by a malevolent will and took the form of those twins. I reached out for help before my body was split in two.” Lavenza explained. 

“Help?” Akira questioned. 

“Yes. I tried to reach for you but my timing was off. I sought you out in a time where his cruel game had already begun.” Lavenza looked past Akira to Igor, “I put my belief in the Trickster and it has indeed paid off. But you,” Lavenza pointed at Igor, “You are nothing but a scoundrel who has tarnished my master’s name! Your lies shall work here no longer!” 

Igor(?) began to laugh at this before he spoke, “It seems that the game isn’t over just yet then.” Suddenly Igor(?) rose from the air to hover there. The next time he spoke his voice was even closer to that of the Grail and left no doubt in Akira’s mind that he was forced into some sort of loaded game from the start. “The human world could be left as it is or destroyed and rebuilt and it would not matter. It’s all just sport to me.” 

“She says you’re not Igor, who are you?!” Akira shouted. 

“I’m sure you already know what to call me, as humans comprehend my form I am that of the Holy Grail that grants wishes. However I am so much more than that,” the Grail said, “I am a god who rules over man to grant his desires and rule over him. I had hoped that seeing a righteous thief vanquish evil would spur mankind to change. We know how that turned out though don’t we?” the Grail said, “As such I believe it is only right that humans be met with ruin.” 

“You’re so full of shit!” Akira shouted, “You set it up this way from the start!” 

“Whatever the case is I believe that it may be worth reevaluating you.” the God of Control mused, “Not only did you reach the Holy Grail, you have seen past my guise to my true identity. I will admit that I am impressed. And to impress a god cannot go unrewarded.” 

“Do not trust him.” Lavenza warned Akira.

“I will grant you a wish,” the God spoke, “I will observe you a while longer and in doing so I will restore your _friends_ to you. You will return to the real world, a version of it rampant with distorted masses, the Phantom Thieves will be praised and gain fame. As such the world will avoid ruin, do you agree to this deal?” 

“You dragged him into the Metaverse and forced him into a game where he had little chance of winning and yet you still plan to toy with him?!” Lavenza shouted.

“Yeah, no. You can take your shit deal and put it up your nose,” Akira drew his weapon once again. 

“Well said!” Lavenza praised him.

“How disrespectful.” the God sneered, “You choose death over salvation for the world? Fine. I have no need for you!” The God vanished before Akira could attack so his dagger just clanged against the wall where the fake Igor had been. “Fuck.”

“You tried you best.” Lavenza comforted him before another light filled the room from behind her. When Akira turned to look, Igor sat at his desk once more, but he was collapsed into it unconscious. 

“Master!” Lavenza ran around the desk to check him as he pushed himself up. 

“Oh my,” Igor said, holding his head before he looked around. His voice was much higher than the fake from before. It was much less ominous. “it’s been some time since I last stepped into this place. It’s full of such life I barely recognize it. I would welcome you to the Velvet Room but you seemed to have made it your own.”

“Who are you?” Akira asked suspiciously.

“My name is Igor.” Igor touched a hand to his chest to bow his head toward Akira, “I am pleased to make your acquaintance.” 

“Well,” Akira relaxed a little, “You sound a whole lot less intimidating at least.” 

“Yes. This is the rightful master of this Velvet Room and your true aid.” Lavenza confirmed. 

“True aid…?” Akira frowned. Honestly he was pretty done with all of this shit, “So the fake left and he’s the real one right?” Lavenza nodded, “Grand, where are my friends?” He could not have sounded anymore like he didn’t give a shit here.

“They are here.” Lavenza motioned toward one of the barred cells which opened for him then one after another the cell doors all vanished, “You must release your teammates yourself before they expire.” 

“Expire?” Akira grew alarmed. 

“Just as you were trapped they have been as well. Awaiting their fate in a cell all alone where only they can free themselves with your assistance. Once you have freed the Phantom Thieves we will gather here we will tell you everything.” 

Akira looked from Lavenza to Igor and back again before he turned away to find his friends. Half way down the hall Akira began to run, he took the first right he could find to rush to the end of the hall to find Makoto leaning against one of the velvet walls looking up at the flowers that had grown across the ceiling. 

She turned to look at him with a weak smile, “I knew this had to have something to do with you.” Makoto announced, “These flowers were your hanahaki weren’t they?” 

“Yeah.” Akira nodded. 

“I’m not really sure what happened but… we seem to be alive right?” Makoto asked, earning a nod, “How are you in your phantom thief attire while I’m in just normal clothes?” 

“I don’t know.” Akira shook his head. 

“Could it mean I’ve lost the heart to fight?” Makoto questioned, “It might be right. I’m frankly pretty scared to fight that Holy Grail again. It’s so powerful and the people seem to want it so badly.”

“Maybe so, but it’s controlling people Makoto, we can’t just stand by and let it win can we?” Akira asked. 

“You’re right…” Makoto chewed on her bottom lip before she spoke again, “I think I get what my sister and my father went through. They fought so hard against impossible odds to try and win. Each little victory was just a drop in the bucket and so you keep fighting again and again to try and change not just a single criminal, but all of society. Is that even possible?” 

“Isn’t it?” Akira questioned, “We’ve reformed all kinds of people, the worst people, but we never gave up even when it was hard. We’re powerful together and so long as we fight, we can make a difference. We’re in this together.” 

“Joker,” Makoto stared at him for a moment before she smiled, “You’re right as always. Honestly, how do you always know exactly what to say?” 

“I’m just good at it.” Akira pushed his mask up with a grin.

“You truly are.” Makoto chuckled, “This isn’t a situation we can come at like it will be a straightforward fight, but regardless of that I will find a solution. No, _we'll_ find a solution. Together.” Makoto pushed away from the wall with a determined stare as her body flashed with the familiar white fire of a costume change and she stood in her thief attire just as her door swung open, “Looks like I found my fighting spirit again. Thank you for believing in me Joker.” 

“I knew I could.” Akira smiled, “I have to find the others. Wait by the end of the hall there?” Akira pointed down the way, “We’ll all go together to get the truth.” 

“Okay.” Makoto nodded, “I won’t let our last big job end in failure.”

Akira walked with her to the end of the hallway before he left her to go across the way to the next cell he could find. This cell had Futaba inside, “Hey.” 

“Joker,” Futaba looked up from a flower she was twisting between her finger tips, “This really had your name written all over it. Red’s your color huh?” Futaba teased, “I really thought I had died there for a second. It was kind of scary.” 

“I’m glad you’re safe.” Akira knelt down to her level.

“Safe is questionable.” Futaba looked around at her cell, “I guess in the end we were kinda arrested anyway huh?” 

“You’re only confined here if you want to be.” Akira explained. 

“If I want to be.” Futaba hummed, “Maybe I do. The world outside is so painful and loud and noisy. I miss just being in my room. I didn’t have to worry about the world ending or who my dad was or that my own half-brother killed my mom.” 

“But were you really happy there?” Akira asked. 

“No.” Futaba admitted begrudgingly, “It hurts but I like being out in the world with everyone, even Goro.” Futaba sighed as she started to pull the petals off the flower, “We talked, you know?” Futaba dropped the petals slowly, “I still don’t forgive him but I understand it wasn’t all his fault. Shido turned him into that. When he knew my mom they would talk about Neo Featherman because I liked that stuff too.” Futaba laughed sadly, “She told him that we’d probably make good friends since he and I were so similar. Smarter than most people our age, socially awkward, and I know it was him telling me all this stuff but… it sounded just like my mom.” 

“She wanted you to have someone you could be friends with.” Akira smiled. 

“She did.” Futaba nodded, “She just didn’t know we were siblings. I wonder what she would have done if she’d found out. Would she have tried to save him from Shido?” Futaba dropped the stem after she pulled all the petals off then buried her face in her knees, “I wished she had saved him. I wished she had scooped him up and ran away with him and we could have actually been a family. I believe in my heart you two would have still met.” 

“I think so too.” Akira agreed. 

“But we can’t think about what we wish would have happened.” Futaba sighed, “I think… Maybe I can forgive him a little. I don’t know. It’s hard.” 

“No one expects you to.” Akira shook his head. 

“But part of me wants to.” Futaba admitted, “Sojiro, you, everyone else, I love all of you so much that I’m out here fighting for the world. I want to feel that for him too. I want to give him a shot. I think that’s why I still want to fight. Even if the odds are against us. I don’t want to let him suffer anymore than I want you to.” 

“Sounds like you know what you want to do,” Akira smiled as he stood back up. 

“I think you’re right.” Futaba stood up, “I’m going to fight for everyone. I won’t run away anymore. I’ll face the truth head on and accept it.” Akira couldn’t deny the proud surge he felt when Futaba’s thief outfit burned back onto her body and the door to her cell opened just as Makoto’s had before, “Thanks for helping me through it, Joker. You have such a strong heart and I love that about you, _big bro_.” 

“Would it be weird of me to marry your half-brother one day?” Akira questioned. 

“Nah, I’ll let it slide since it’s you.” Futaba grinned. 

“Thanks,” Akira looked toward the next hall he needed to go down, “Queen is waiting down at the end of this hall, I still have to find the others. Can I leave you to find your way?” 

“Of course. I _am_ Oracle.” Futaba pushed up her goggles before walking along to find Makoto and wait. 

Akira for his part made his way up the next hall toward the next cell to find Ryuji waiting inside. He sat among a bed of camellias just staring at them as if waiting for them to do something to him. He only looked up when Akira stopped next to his cell. 

“Hey bro.” Ryuji nodded, earning a greeting from Akira in return, “Are these the flowers that tried to kill you? I can’t remember if you told me about ‘em or not so I’m just guessing.”

“Yeah, camellias.” Akira nodded as he put his hands into his pockets.

“They’re pretty,” Ryuji touched one carefully before leaning back heavily against the wall, “So I guess we’re alive right? Is this that prison place we were in before?” 

“No, this is part of the Velvet room.” Akira shook his head. 

“Velvet...Room?” Ryuji looked confused, “You seem to know where we are so I guess it’s not all hope is lost and shit huh?” Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck, “Being back in a cell takes me back to April you know? Kamoshida’s castle was where we first kinda connected. I thought you were just some quiet guy but turns out I was way wrong.” 

“I guess quiet isn’t really a descriptor of mine anymore is it?” Akira chuckled, reaching up to play with his bangs. 

“It’s weird when I think that you were convicted for a crime you didn’t commit at all. It got me so pissed off that I just… I dunno. I wanted to beat the crap outta the guy that did it? But then we did and nothing changed,” Ryuji leaned back to rest on his palms, “I started thinkin’ we wasted our time and it got me so fuckin’ mad I just wanted to punch something. When Makoto’s sis came to ask us to help again I was so pumped to do it because it meant I had a goal again. I do better when I got goals.” Ryuji admitted, “After Goro helped with the apartment stuff we got to talkin’ about what I’m going to do after all this is over. And it got me wondering what the hell I was doing at all. I’ve just been going through the motions you know?”

“I don’t know what I wanna do with my future. All I’ve been thinkin’ about is the Phantom Thieves and saving people.” Ryuji sighed, “I wanna keep on helping people somehow. I’m shit at school and everything else, but I was good at running. When that got taken away from me I felt lost. I jumped at the first thing I could to feel something good again. Going at stuff this way meant I could keep fighting.” 

“And that’s okay.” Akira smirked.

“Is that so?” Ryuji looked to the ground, “I think I get it. I’m doin’ this to make sure people don’t gotta go through the same bullshit we did. This is how I can help people, and after this is over, I’ll keep on going the best way I know how.” Ryuji stood up to look at Akira, “I’m not going to just give up here. We’re gunna finish this.” 

“Damn right.” Akira grinned as he watched Ryuji’s clothes shift to his thief gear. Once the door was open and Ryuji stepped out Akira raised his arm to bump Ryuji’s, “We’ll raise some Hell together.” 

“Fuck yeah we will.” Ryuji laughed.

“I still gotta find the others. I’ll show you where Queen and Oracle are then keep looking. Can you do me a favor and wait with them?” Akira asked as they started to walk. 

“Yeah, you find your boyfriend yet?” 

“No. From the layout so far I feel like I won’t find him until the end.” Akira sighed, “Just wait for me okay?” 

“Got it.” Ryuji gave a thumbs up then separated to stand with the two girls as Akira crossed the path to find his next teammate. 

“Yusuke,” Akira called to him as Yusuke had his back turned toward him. He was inspecting the flowers that filled his cell all around. There were certainly more in here than the others so far, “You okay?” 

“Joker,” Yusuke turned toward Akira with a faint smile, “I knew you’d be okay. I wasn’t sure about it for a moment but I held out hope.” He stepped closer to the bars, “These flowers have been haunting me for months now you know? When they suddenly grew in I was worried about what it might have meant but you’re safe.” 

“Thanks for worrying about me for so long,” Akira scratched the side of his face, “honestly I don’t know if I would have gotten through any of it without your help.” 

“I just did what I could,” Yusuke leaned against the wall, “though I admit it was for selfish reasons. I know I said I wanted you alive more than with me, but seeing you two together… hurt.” Yusuke admitted and Akira felt for him. “Some part of me was disgustingly happy when we learned that he was supposedly going to try killing you. I thought it might be enough to make your hanahaki die before it could kill you. When it didn’t happen I wondered why. I know envy is an ill fitting look for me but I admit it’s been there for some time and even stronger now that you two are an item.” 

“Yusuke I…” Akira didn’t know what to say. He didn’t even know where to start and trying to understand was nearly impossible.

“I’ve gotten better.” Yusuke nodded, “Much to my annoyance Akechi reached out to me before Niijima-san’s palace. He told me that the two of you uncovered some scam involving Kawanabe… well, his assistant rather. I still decided to strike out on my own without his help, Kawanabe’s, but with Akechi’s help many other students will be spared hurt. He’s actually a rather good person isn’t he?” Yusuke questioned with a smirk. “He may have been the one to cause deaths and shutdowns in the past, but he’s also been working hard to make things better for others.”

“I loathe to admit that with his help I was able to overcome a lot of self doubt as a Phantom Thief. It was rather difficult to let him get close to me because I knew how you felt about him and my feelings about you…” Yusuke looked to the ground, “after your hanahaki came out we spoke again, he admitted knowing what we had done, and understood that I had tried to help you however I could. He then begged me no to pursue you. I found it odd I admit.” 

“That… doesn’t sound like him?” Akira raised an eyebrow. 

“I thought the same but then he explained why,” Yusuke looked up at Akira, “he was scared that you would see how much better I am than he is. His words. He’d just gotten you and he wanted to really cherish you but he couldn’t do that right if he was scared of losing you to me.”

“He’s… yeah. Okay. I can see where that might have come up.” Akira agreed. Goro had his own insecurities and worrying about someone he loved being taken from him ranked up there for what he might think.

“It’s because of that, that I’ve been distant of late. Akechi may have done evil in the past, but he’s making up for that now.” Yusuke nodded. “I’m standing aside to let you two work out.” 

“I don’t deserve you Yusuke.” Akira shook his head. “There will be a day when someone who really loves you finds you. I’m just sorry this is how we turned out.” 

“It’s alright,” Yusuke smiled, “as far as first loves go, you have not been a bad one.” 

“Oh now I feel really bad.” Akira bowed his head. 

“Don’t, you inspired me to become better. Because of you I was able to figure out who I am and why I fight,” Yusuke pushed away from the wall, “I fight not just for others, but for myself as well. Even though we lost to that Grail I will not falter. I will force the world to see that there is beauty even in pain as I have learned all too well.” As Yusuke spoke the flames of his thief attire overcame him so he was once more standing there as Fox.

“Looks like you figured it out,” Akira smiled as the door opened, “welcome back Fox.” 

“Yes, thank you Joker.” Yusuke nodded before the two of them began to walk together. “Have you found the others?” 

“Not all of them. Some are waiting over there,” Akira pointed when they came to the end of the hall, “I’m going to search this way for Ann, Haru, Goro, and Morgana. Wait here until I get back?” 

“Of course.” Yusuke agreed then turned to join the other three Akira had already saved. 

Before Akira could reach the end of his new path he saw in front of him another barred path. There were two large locks and chains on the door which kept it securely locked when Akira tried to move it. When he looked inside he could see that the walls and floor were covered with flowers so thick that Akira couldn’t see who was at the end. When he looked to his left and right he saw more cells though he couldn’t see who was in them from his position. There was no way for him to make it past to continue on to the path in front of him so he turned to the right to find his way to Ann sitting on the floor holding her knees. 

“Joker,” Ann looked up as he approached, “looks like you’re in one piece as well.” 

“You okay?” Akira asked. 

“I’ve def been better.” Ann nodded rows of camellias hung from the ceiling and grew down long toward Ann. “I was… _completely_ terrified when we started fading away. I haven’t even had nightmares that scary before.” 

“I was scared too.” Akira sat on the floor with his legs crossed to be on her level.

“But you’re the one out there,” Ann shook her head, “When I thought I was gunna die I just started trembling and shaking and thinking about Shiho. I talked to her before we went into Mementos. I told her about how I was going to do something crazy and she made me promise to be safe.” Ann laughed bitterly, “I wanted to tell her what we were doing but if I did she would have told me to stop I think.” 

“If I were in her shoes I can see that.” Akira agreed. 

“I love her so much, Joker. I’m just mad at myself for taking so long to tell her how I felt.” Ann played with the laces of her shoes, “I thought about telling her I was a Phantom Thief **so** many times. I wanted her to be proud of me. I just couldn’t work up the nerve to tell her. Then Goro-kun came along on one of those days I got so frustrated about trying to tell the truth to her that I cried. He took me to get my favorite crepes and we talked.” Ann picked away at the plastic tab of her laces, “He told me what it’s like knowing you’re a thief. He tried to explain to me how worried he is about you like… all the time. If Shiho knew she’d worry about me too.”

“The difference is that Goro-kun’s part of the team. He can cover you and make sure you’re safe. Shiho would have to stand there and just wait.” Ann sighed through her nose, “It made sense so I stopped thinking about telling her because it was better for her to not know. But now…” 

“You’re scared you won’t see her again,” Akira finished Ann’s sentence.

“Yeah. I don’t know when, or if, I’ll ever see her again. I just wish I had told her the truth so that maybe she can be okay.” Ann pushed her face against her knees before she looked back up at him, “I can’t just give up here. I want to get back to Shiho so I can tell her everything. I want us to look to the future together with a free humanity.” Ann got up to her feet just as her thief clothes burned their way onto her body. 

“That’s more like it Panther.” Akira grinned as the door opened and she stepped out, “You were already well on your way to getting out of there.” 

“I was, wasn’t I?” Ann smiled, “The others are here too right?” 

“Still lookin’ for three.” Akira looked back,” Got a lot of us out already.” 

“Well, I’ll find them and wait with them. You keep on looking.” Ann reached out to Akira to give him a hug,” Thanks Joker.” 

“You had this. I just listened.” Akira shook his head before turning the hug. 

The two of them walked back down the path together before Ann paused to look at the barred doors leading down the floral cave. Akira looked as well to note one of the chained locks had vanished, “What’s down there?” She asked.

“I don’t know, but if I had to guess… Goro.” Akira stared down the dark path, “It’s the only way I can’t go right now, and there’s a lock missing compared to before. Maybe Mona is with him.”

“I see…” Ann hummed, “Well, I’ll go to the others, you go on ahead.” Ann gave Akira a firm pat on the shoulder before turning to leave him. Akira continued down the left path to approach Haru next. 

Her cell was different than the rest so far. Akira’s red camellias filled the chamber as with the rest but Akira could see yellow roses mixed between the red petals, “Joker! You’re okay!” 

“Sorry about taking so long Haru. I’m here to get you out of there.” Akira announced.

“I… don’t know about that.” Haru looked at the bars around her cell, “I think this is where I’m meant to be.”

“No Haru--” 

“Listen to me, please?” Haru asked kindly with one of her most amazing smiles before Akira nodded. Haru was so meek and demure that she was trying to just ask for attention Akira felt compelled to listen, “Thank you. When I first learned about the Phantom Thieves months ago I was elated. I thought that there might be someone who can help me with my father. So I asked, and searched, I wanted to have him back. The real version of him that I loved, but I heard nothing. I know it’s because of how busy you all are and I never got mad about it.” 

“If we’d known--” Akira started but another stare from Haru had him shut up.

“I am perfectly happy knowing that my own requests fell on deaf ears because you were helping someone else.” Haru shook her head, “Once I became a part of the team and lost my father I struggled with what I should do. You helped me decide how to carry forth with my company, and I am very grateful for that help.” Haru smiled before she looked around, “It’s odd that these flowers are yours and mine, isn’t it?” Haru questioned before picking a pair, “It reminds me of the sky at sunset. You saved me time and again with your kind heart.” 

Akira said nothing as he looked at the rose and the camellia in her hand, “There’s nothing I can do to ever repay you. Nor could I repay Goro-kun either. He tried his best to save my father in his own way and I appreciate him for that. It’s thanks to him I was able to figure out who I can trust on my own. Relying on others to tell me who is safe or not is… childish. I’ll make mistakes but I will not lose myself again. I won’t sit by docile as someone else decides my life for me. I have to do at least that much so when I see my father again after this life I can look him in the face and tell him how I’ve done.” Haru turned to Akira, “My hanahaki blooms out of love of friendship and having it returned made me stronger and less afraid. You and everyone else gave me that courage.” Haru’s clothes suddenly burned away and she stood in her thief clothes. 

The flowers in her hands were still there but had both grown much bigger and bloomed much fuller, “I will go forth from here with you and everyone else to prove to the people that living by letting someone else decide for you is not the way to do things.” Haru reached up to her feather to fix the yellow rose and camellia to her hat, “I take this with me as a reminder that love can change lives if nurtured right. If you don’t mind.” 

“I don’t mind at all.” Akira smiled as the door opened and Haru stepped out, “You’re so strong Haru. I couldn’t measure up to half of what you can do.” 

“I can only be this strong because of what you’ve given me.” Haru smiled as sweetly as ever before the two of them began to walk the path back. 

This time when Akira stopped at the center door leading down a hall of camellias the chains were all gone and the door was wide open, “I’ve got a few more to find Haru. The others are that way. Stay with them until I come back okay?” 

“If you take too long we’ll come after you.” Haru promised, “Go on.” 

Akira offered Haru a smile before turning to the floral hall to start his way down. It was a long path but right to the point. It was straight for a few yards before it dipped down a long set of stairs. By the time Akira reached the bottom he couldn’t see the top of the stairs at all. He was worried about why Goro or Morgana would be set this far away from the others but continued on until he found a single cell.

It was made up just like Akira’s up in the Velvet Room with a bed, toilet, and chains. So many chains. Each link was woven tight with flowers and everything inside was covered in them as well. Akira eyed over the camellia garden when someone on the bed shifted and Goro sat up. He wasn’t in his normal clothes as everyone else had been, he was in prison attire more like what Akira usually woke up in when visiting the room prior.

“Are you my warden in death?” Goro asked. 

“No Goro. We’re not dead.” Akira shook his head. 

“Really?” Goro did sound convinced as he stood to move closer to the door, “what else could this place be but hell? Flowers all over to remind me about how you nearly died, and all by myself in a dark corridor. Seems like just the right setting to punish me.” 

“It’s called the Velvet Room.” Akira answered, “This is where I would go to fuse personas to make new ones.” 

“Fuse… so this place is yours.” Goro looked around his cell, “I suppose that makes sense for the flowers to have grown here huh?”

“I came to get you out.” Akira explained touching the bars.

“Is there a point to it though?” Goro shook his head, “We put our all into fighting the Grail and it smacked us aside like trash. No one wanted us to hurt it, I don’t even think we can.” Goro hugged himself, “I’m starting to think I would have been better off dead.” 

“Don’t say that.” Akira warned Goro quickly, “We only got as far as we have because we had you!” Akira shook his head, “I’ve been working so hard every day because I know it’s what you would have done.” 

“You’re a fool.” Goro sighed softly, “I suppose I am as well. I tried to think I knew better than anyone else what needed to be done. But here I am scared of fighting that thing again because we could die. _You_ could die.” Goro snapped his vision to Akira, “You’re the only one I care about.” 

“That’s a lie and we both know it.” Akira shook his head, “Everyone’s told me, you know? About how you helped them or even just talked to them. You saved Ryuji and his mom from a shitty landlord, you helped Ann figure out how to deal with public pressure,” Akira began to sum up what he had understood about what his friends had told him, “Futaba wants you to be in her life as a brother, you taught Haru how to find out who her real friends are. You even convinced Makoto that being a cop isn’t really what she wants to do. Yusuke isn’t about to give up because it hurts or he’s scared either.” 

Goro was silent as he listened to Akira before he turned around to look at his cell. For a moment there was nothing but then suddenly a few of the chains holding the door closed burned away leaving the flowers to drop on the floor, “I know you’re right. I’m acting childish.” 

“It’s okay.” Akira smiled. 

“Did I ever get around to telling you that I fell in love with you at first sight as well?” Goro looked back to Akira, “You with your messy hair and stupid lost expression.” As Goro pointed out his hair Akira reached up to try and smooth it out some, “It was your eyes. You were about my age physically but your eyes told me you were so much older. I thought we might be friends at least and I was right.” 

“I couldn’t get over how your smile kind of makes you look like a cat.” Akira teased making Goro train his features into a frown.

“When I found out you were a Phantom Thief I was worried. I liked you at least, but you’d be the type to get in Shido’s way. I knew that we’d be at odd ends at some point. I just didn’t know how it would turn out then. If I had known I would have made you stop sooner.” Goro leaned up against the wall, “I say that but… I already knew. I was just an idiot to think everything would still be fine somehow.” 

“I’m glad you decided to stay with us.” Akira smiled, “You worked so hard for all of us and it doesn’t go missed. You were basically passing out on your feet trying to get Shido’s case moved.” 

“Shido…” Goro repeated the name, “That bastard was using me the whole time. I know most of you keep saying I didn’t do anything wrong and that it was his fault, but I knew. I’m not blameless.” 

“I know you’re not. I won’t pretend that you’re a saint, nor will I try to overlook everything you ever did. It doesn't lessen what you’ve done after though. You’re a hero, even if you took a little time to get there.” 

“Hero…?” Goro stared wide eyed at Akira as the rest of the chains on the cell burned away and the ball and chain holding Goro vanished. Once they were gone Goro looked away to search the room for something but after a minute he laughed quietly, “You always know just what to say.” 

“I think of it as one of my good points.” Akira shrugged. 

“Questionable, some people might think it’s manipulative.” Goro shook his head, “I suppose getting back out there to fight that Grail is all we can do isn’t it? If we don’t then we have no chance of ever having the future we want. The one where you and I are together. Right?” 

“Yeah. So, you going to come out of there and kiss me?” Akira asked, earning a laugh from Goro before his prison clothes burned away to his thief attire. The door opened as the others did and Goro stepped out to reach for Akira and pull him into a tight embrace.

“I didn’t get to finish saying that I love you before.” Goro mumbled into Akira’s shoulder. 

“I know.” Akira rubbed his palm against Goro’s back, “I love you too.” 

Goro pulled back from Akira to cup his face and kiss him lovingly before separating, “Did you find the others?”

“Yeah, well, except for Morgana. He’s not down here with you is he?” Akira looked past Goro into the cell. 

“No.” Goro shook his head. 

“I’ve looked everywhere else.” Akira was worried, but as he worried, Lavenza's voice called out to him that he’d gathered his team and it was time to gather again in the Velvet Room to talk, “He might be there. Let’s go together.” Akira offered his hand to Goro.

“Together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, in this chapter i wanted to high light the important fact that goro has been trying to make connections with the other thieves. he's gone so long thinking that he had to be alone and he had to push people away.  
> now that he's allowed to just... be a person he's okay to make bonds. this is a cool thing that gets used in the next chapter so i'm excited for you guys to see that.
> 
> the garden taking over parts of Akira's Velvet Room again wasn't because he's gunna die ot anything. it's a proof of the fact that he's got control of it again. He's not scared of death and he accepts that his hanahaki was important to him growing as a person. with that acceptance he owns what he is. a survivor. the velvet room isn't just a reflection of his heart, it's his room and he owns it. 
> 
> preview:  
>  _“It’s a Thief’s duty to break laws isn’t it?” Goro teased._  
>  _“And you used to call yourself a detective of the law.” Akira played with his bangs._


	37. the last remnants of hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lavenza talks to the thieves about what was really happening with the fake god. once they're done listening it’s time for some pay back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i like this chapter guys

The party followed Akira into the Velvet Room to stop in front of Igor’s desk. The camellia that had taken over the light cast a red hue against the blue, dying the walls and carpet purple in the mesh of light.

“You truly have made this room yours.” Igor noted motioned above him. 

“Who’s he?” Futaba whispered loudly. 

“What is this place?” Yusuke asked, looking around. 

“My name is Igor, and though I call myself it’s master this is _his_ Velvet Room.” Igor motioned to Akira, “There have been many guests in the past but none have left such a strong mark upon the walls of this room. You are truly a fantastic guest.” 

“My name is Lavenza, I too am a resident of his place.” Lavenza bowed to them, “We have been waiting for you all. My master has been released from a long period of imprisonment just as you all have been. His powers may not return for some time so I will be taking it upon myself to speak for--” 

“Before we go any further where’s Morgana?” Akira questioned, “You said to find all my teammates but I couldn’t find him.” 

“He’s not far,” Lavenza leaned to the side to look around Akira causing him to turn to face Morgana as he walked out of Akira’s old cell.

“You’re okay!” Haru said before moving to Morgana to hug him.

“Haru please!” Morgana flailed his arms until Haru let him go, “Sorry to have worried you. I just… needed some time to think. I remember everything now.” Morgana looked at the floor. 

“Mona?” Akira questioned when he didn’t begin to explain right away. 

“I was born here.” Morgana said after a minute, “I was made to dispel an evil being from man’s spiritual world. My role was to find the Trickster and help him to defeat it.” Morgana looked up at Akira, “That’s why I was created here by my master.” His eyes turned from Akira to Igor, “When his place was about to be taken by that evil, my master gathered the last traces of mankind’s hope and with his remaining strength he created me.” 

“So…” Ann tilted her head to one side, “Morgana is made of hope?” 

“Hope is stored in the cat.” Futaba giggled.

“The entity that calls itself the Holy Grail, and by that extension, a god, is a malevolent being that forces man into eternal servitude.” Lavenza explained, “It is by this action that it hopes for eternal peace by filling dreality with those who have stopped thinking for themselves. If left unchecked this will be man’s ruin.” 

“I….don’t get it.” Ryuji looked around for someone to help him. 

“She means that a fake god plans to make slaves of man by stealing everyone’s will to think for themselves.” Goro explained, “A world of puppets.” 

“That which you call the Holy Grail is not simply a treasure. It is the distorted desires of the masses and is most certainly the very core of Mementos.” Lavenza explained.

“Did it become a god because people wished to be ruled over?” Haru asked and Akira had to agree that it was a good question to ask.

“You have the right of it.” Lavenza confirmed, “To decide the fate of the world, this god chose two people with potential and pitted them against one another.” Lavenza’s eyes moved to look at Goro, “One was you, Goro Akechi, you were chosen to incite the people’s distortions. Which if you’d won, would have brought about the destruction of the world. However, when you encountered Akira Kurusu you did not act as you meant to. The evil god intended you two to fight to the death but you both cast aside it’s script and joined forces instead, thus changing your fate.” 

“So…” Goro said slowly, “I was a pawn chosen by a god to try and destroy the world. Good to know that’s why I have this power.” Akira found Goro’s hand to hold it tightly to try and offer at least some small comfort.

“If Akira won then the human world would be left as it is.” Morgana spoke next, “Those were the conditions of the game and what _should_ have happened. When Goro made the choice that he was on our team, no questions about it, that should have ended it there, but that god changed the rules mid-game without saying anything.”

“Yes, that being changed the rules to meet impossible standards, it knew that a revolution would not occur within indolent humans.” Lavenza explained, “It was made from the people’s distorted desires, however my master believed in humanity. He believed that the Trickster would rise up among the people and make the change that needed to come. He still does.” 

“So why was I chosen?” Akira questioned. 

“You had the potential of the Fool as many before you have. As such you were made to go through many ordeals to train you to become the people’s savior, but the people rejected you and cast you into despair. You were pulled into a rigged game where you had little chance of actually winning.” Lavenza explained, “Your world has been fused with Mementos. You do not exist because the cognition of the masses do not acknowledge you.” 

“But we’re here,” Akira said, “So that has to mean something right?” 

“Yes, there is still hope,” Lavenza smiled, “You already defied the evil god and turned the one meant against you into not just an ally, but a loved one.” Lavenza looked to Goro, “You were granted the power of the Trickster as well, but your connections with people were fake or empty so you could only ever hold two persona. I believe as you are now, you could hold more within you just as Akira does.” 

“M-me?” Goro motioned at himself. 

“Yes.” Lavenza agreed, “There is no time for me to construct a grimoire for you, so we shall bend the rules and allow you to use his.” Lavenza took the book at her side to hold it open, “With this the two of you will become closer I believe, and use one another’s powers to fight back against the evil god. In doing so you will be allowed to use any and all persona Akira has acquired but be warned this will give him access to yours as well. Do you accept?” 

Goro stared at the book before he looked at Akira. He was silent for a few moments before he approached Lavenza to look at the book. He looked nervous but nodded to her then set his hand on the book. A faint glow radiated from it’s pages before Lavenza told Goro to pick what he wanted. Stating that he should be able to hold eight at once now.

Goro accepted her directions and began to turn the page of the book. After a few pages he touched a name, then another, after a few he stepped back to watch the book react. A few dim lights rose from the book before moving up to fade into Goro’s mask. Akira watched as Goro’s mask turned a number of shapes and colors before settling on a completely white mask with small studs around the outside edges. Once the fusion was set Goro looked back to Akira, “I’ll be borrowing these.”

“Your power does not make each persona your own,” Lavenza noted, “your mask changes with each persona you gain, but you have this power nonetheless and with it you may stand a chance against the god.” 

“What now?” Akira asked. 

“With those who still believe in you fueling your existence you may leave this prison and save this destroyed world and its people.” Lavenza explained, “Akira, you were guided here by Morgana and have changed your fate in a way that truly makes you worthy of the Trickster name. You and your friends must challenge the evil force and put a stop to it’s plans. Are you up to the task?” 

“Of course,” Akira nodded, “we’ve come too far to let things end like this. We’ll destroy the Grail and free the people.” 

“Excellent.” Igor laughed as he clapped his hands, “There is nothing for you to fear. You already possess the power you need to oppose this evil god. I am very much looking forward to what you do.”

“Morgana, I will be leaving you to continue guiding them.” Lavenza smiled, “You know where the exit is and I trust you to continue helping them. It was a cruel responsibility that was placed upon you but you have done very well.” 

“I’ll accept your words of appreciation when this is all over.” Morgana shook his head, “Now! Let’s get out of here team!” Morgana moved to lead them out. One by one they set off after Morgana until Akira was left alone with Lavenza and Igor.

“Why did all the flowers come back?” Akira asked them. 

“That is because your heart,” Lavenza smiled, “the flowers were made from your love and that god tried to kill them hoping that it would harden your heart. But when you made it clear that will not change how you see your friends everything grew back stronger, though not quite as invasively. If you need to use the facilities for any more persona we can do that.” 

“I think I’m good for now.” Akira tapped his mask, “I’ll see you later.” 

“Akira,” Lavenza called, stepping to him with her hand out to give him something. He stopped to turn toward her and accept what she was handing to him. Once he looked at what she placed in his hand he realized it was two keys, “Please give one of these to Goro. He is a guest here as well now.” 

“Right…” Akira looked at the keys then put them in his pocket, “Thanks.” With one last look at Lavenza and Igor, Akira jogged to catch up with the others just before the exit of the prison, “This door…” 

“It’s familiar.” Goro agreed.

“Let’s get out of here.” Morgana pointed to the door which let them out to Shibuya once more, “This is where we vanished from.” 

“People are still carrying on like nothing is wrong.” Makoto frowned looking around.

“Ah, the door we came through,” Yusuke pointed behind them.

“The Quarantine Cell,” Goro said, sounding a bit impressed, “Joker is the vicious and dangerous criminal of the Metaverse.” 

“That’s right.” Morgana laughed, “The Velvet Room was swallowed by the distortions and because of that, the evil god was able to manipulate Akira.” 

“I really hate that word.” Goro said dangerously as he looked to Morgana then gasped, “Hm, Mona…

“The Velvet Room was originally made to nurture the human mind, but after it was taken...over...what? Why are you all staring at me?” Morgana questioned.

“You’re kind of...shining.” Futaba said before Morgana looked at himself. 

“I think it’s because I know what my duty is now.” Morgana turned his paw a little, “It’s nothing to worry about.” Morgana assured them before people walking by said they could actually see him and from Morgana they noticed the rest of the team. 

“It seems people can see us?” Haru wondered. 

“Those costumes are familiar?” One woman said before more muttering began to ripple out among the people who started to remember who they were. 

“It looks like the ones who notice Mona’s glow are able to see us.” Ann guessed, “This is good isn’t it? If people remember us then we’ll be able to fight the Grail right?” 

“I think so.” Morgana agreed before he moved along the sidewalk some and pointed up at a large building some distance away. It certainly hadn’t been there before at least, “We’ll find that evil god there. Let’s go kick it’s ass!” 

With a resounding agreement the team began their trek up toward the temple. They found whatever shadows got in their way without much trouble, Goro had picked out a persona called Messiah that Akira had thought might be too strong for him to control so he’d left it alone.

However, Goro had no trouble at all and though Messiah was powerful it did not save them from having to fight still. It just made some faster than others. Down below people started to shout and panic as they started to realize that the world was strange. Further and further in they found more shadows, each of which was angelic in some nature which begged the question of if this god saw itself as righteous. 

Once they finally reached the temple and got down to the floor of which the Grail should have sat, the party instead found that the Grail was still in Igor’s form, “Isn’t that the Velvet Room guy?” Futaba asked. 

“This is the fake form it used to trick Akira.” Morgana explained. 

“Why do you still oppose me? Humanity is happier with me as it’s ruler.” The god spoke.

“Oh shut up!” Ann snapped, “you’re not even a real god! You’re just an over eager treasure! Shut up and let us destroy you already!” 

“I see there is no reasoning with you,” the Grail spoke with some annoyance, “Your actions will save no one, least of all yourselves.” the Grail said before fading back into it’s cup form.

“We frankly don’t give a shit!” Goro shouted, “Enough of your monologue! You’ve been trying to twist my fate because you thought it was a fun little game right? Well I’m here to make sure you regret it!” 

Akira was tired of listening to the Grail talk and honestly he just wanted to maybe go back to normal things. This twist in the story was honestly laughable. Fighting corrupt adults? Fine. Stealing treasure to reform society? Sure. But that the treasure was a god trying to rule over man? This was stupid. 

“Let’s finish it!” Akira touched his mask to summon his persona and take the first attack. He didn’t care about why this god was made, or what purpose it thought it served, Akira was going to break it, and with it return people back to their senses, “This is a lot of effort over getting one shitty politician tried in court huh?” Akira joked bitterly. 

“You could say that again.” Ryuji laughed before the Grail shot back at the party with a laser.

“We need to take care of those veins.” Goro looked up, “Kitagawa, help me do it?” 

“Of course.” Yusuke agreed.

“Everyone else, keep it distracted.” Goro ordered, “Once the lines are broken it shouldn’t be hard to finish it off.” With a decision made and Futaba covering the two who left the party laid into the Grail to keep its attention on the bigger group of the party. 

After a few minutes of what could only be described as punching a brick wall Yusuke and Goro made it to the top of the hands on either side of the Grail to jump across the top and cut the veins completely away. 

The Grail complained about being separated from its power source as the party attacked it from all angles. Finally they managed to damage it significantly enough that the chains around it broke away and the gears the turned around stopped moving.

Carefully everyone gathered back together wondering if they managed to destroy it at last. Futaba couldn’t tell if the Grail was dead or not until seconds later the ground began to rumble and the gears around the cup began to move again. 

“You have to be fucking with me!” Ryuji complained loudly, “JUST _DIE_ ALREADY!” 

At Ryuji’s shout the gears spun faster before breaking free from the cup as gold wings spread around the brim. The floor began to separate as the cup and hands in the floor moved away and up. Suddenly everyone was looking at an absolutely giant silver creature. It was miles higher than any building in the city with a golden halo of wings circling over it’s head.

“You gotta be kidding.” Futaba gasped, “I know it said it was a god but _come on_.” 

“Really hope this is its final form because I’m already sick of looking at it.” Goro stood next to Akria, “You scared?” 

“Nah,” Akira shook his head, “I’ve got you here.” 

“Implying you’d be scared if I weren’t here.” Goro smirked. 

“Maybe a little.” Akira pinched his fingers close together with a laugh.

“Silence!” the Grail called, “I am the administrator born of the collective human unconscious. The god of control, Yaldaboath.” 

“Here it goes again,” Akira rolled his eyes. 

“Yalda...beth? Ylad...what?” Ryuji struggled to say the name. 

“Yaldy.” Futaba nicknamed it.

“I demand silence!” Yaldabaoth shouted, “The administrator must guide mankind toward proper development. Now that the foolishness of man has been proven. It is the administrator’s duty to purge them!” 

“Is it… implying it's going to destroy the whole world?” Yusuke questioned.

“I think that’s what it’s saying.” Makoto agreed. 

“If left to humanity, the world would slowly meet its demise. Rehabilitation is impossible now.” Yaldabaoth claimed. 

“There’s the word I hate.” Akira leaned toward Goro, “Should I hit it? I’m gonna hit it.” 

“I’ll join you.” Goro nodded reaching for his now red mask. As Yaldabaoth began to say something Akira and Goro both sent heavy curse and bless attacks right for its face causing it to become consumed in thick smoke.

“You guys!” Ann shouted, “Maybe we could have talked it down!” 

“Heavy doubt on that one Ann.” Akira shook his head before one of Yaldabaoth’s large gold hands moved to slam down on the platform. Everyone scattered to avoid the attack before starting to send back their own. 

As the fight carried on Yaldabaoth summoned many hands to summon different sins of man. So long as they destroyed the hands the status effects weren’t too bad as long as they destroyed the arms holding the objects. 

Things seemed to be going well when Yaldabaoth stated that it was once again the ultimate being and sent a powerful attack at them, nearly knocking Futaba off of the platform completely. Akira struggled to look up at Yaldabaoth who began to prepare yet another powerful attack that threatened to kill them if they didn’t defend themselves properly. However everyone was exhausted and most were unable to even look up, much less defend themselves. 

Akira tried to think of what he could do to protect his friends. He started to hear something and it sounded like the voices of the people. People were saying that it was fun while it lasted or what humans stood no chance against a god.

“Do you hear the voice of the masses?” Yaldabaoth questioned, “They mock you for revolting against a god. Humans are nothing more than beings of desire. Logic dictates that a world full of them will decline to nothing. The sin of fighting against god is severe. For your punishment, you will taste pain everlasting!” 

“Shut up already!” Morgana got to his feet, “Human hope is the most powerful desire that there is! Underestimating it is a stupid idea!”

“The...Phantom Thieves will yield to no one,” Goro said as he struggled to get to his feet, “Not even a god.”

“Even if there’s only one of us left. We will get up and fight until the very end.” Akira too pushed himself up to his feet. 

“We’ll try to...” Morgana paused then shook his head, “no, we _will_ definitely take the world!” 

Once Morgana said this the party began to hear the voices of the people. They were cheering them on, begging for them to defeat Yaldabaoth, “Sounds to me like no one wants you to be their ruler.” Morgana laughed.

One by one each of the team managed to get back up to their feet, spurred on by the cheering of the people that grew louder with each passing second. Though Yaldabaoth tried to dismiss the cheers there was no question that the people’s words were doing wonders to give them power once again. The light that had surrounded Morgana before was now all around them before they absorbed it and were healed.

“We’re saving this world!” Akira pointed at Yaldabaoth before his mask vanished and Arsene appeared behind him. Akira looked down at the chains floating around him before he grabbed hold of one then pulled at it to break it. No more would he allow any chains to bind him, in his mind or in real life. He was free and he would use that freedom to fight god. 

“You messed with the wrong thieves!” Goro called as well before Loki appeared behind him as well. Goro matched Akira’s action of grabbing hold of invisible chains to pull and break them as well. The shattered chains shuddered for a moment before they began to swirl around Arsene and Loki to pull them closer.

When the two personas were forced together the chains snapped close around them and squeezed until they faded away in fire and ash. Akira nor Goro’s masks returned to their faces yet there was no reason to panic. Akira knew they hadn’t messed up. Even as Yaldabaoth tried to gloat as if it had been a waste of time, a thunderstorm began to sound overhead before a large creature began to descend from the circling clouds. 

The creature had long black feathered and leathery wings that spanned for what must have been miles. It’s clothes black and white in the same pattern as Loki though it looked rather dapper and even royal with the sash around it’s shoulder. This was no doubt what Goro and Akira had fused their power together.

“It’s huge.” Ryuji leaned back to watch as the new building sized persona spread its wings wide behind them.

“That’s… yours?” Goro questioned Akira.

“It’s _ours_.” Akira smiled before Yaldabaoth tried to sneak attack them as they had done to it. The attack didn’t connect though, it wasn’t because it missed, it was more like there was just no power behind it. 

“I think I get it,” Morgana looked up at Akira, “If god can’t play nice then it’s a demon’s duty to punish him. You two really are Tricksters defying the normal laws of fusion there!” 

“It’s a Thief’s duty to break laws isn’t it?” Goro teased.

“And you used to call yourself a detective of the law.” Akira played with his bangs before Yaldabaoth tried to attack them again, “Alright, enough of you.” Akira and Goro drew guns from their coats as the light of hope from the people formed a gun in their persona’s hand as well, “Begone.” They said at once before squeezing the trigger, sending a bullet through Yaldabaoth's head leaving a large hole right in the middle. 

For a moment there was nothing and then Yaldabaoth spoke, “What immense power… It surpassed my own. A god, born of the wishes of the masses.” 

“Holy _fuck_ can you just die already?!” Ann shouted. 

“There’s literally a _HUGE_ hole in your head! Shut up!” Futaba yelled as she stomped her foot. 

“This is the true power of the Trickster.” Yaldabaoth said, “Damn that Igor, it seems he wasn’t spouting nonsense after all.” At this Yaldabaoth finally began to fade away before the light of its vanishing formed into a small golden cup.

“That’s…” Akira relaxed at last as his and Goro’s joint persona faded away.

“A treasure?” Goro completed Akira’s thought before Morgana ran over to it. 

“Thanks for everything guys.” Morgana said as he touched the cup, “Humans really are amazing. You guys have the power to change the whole world, you know that? Sometimes people just kind of forget.”

“Hey,” Akira frowned, “stop talking like you’re leaving.” 

“Thanks to you guys I was able to really complete my duty.” Morgana turned to them, “I got to be useful to the humans I admired so much.”

“Mona you can’t leave!” Futaba demanded. 

“You said you’d stay with us Mona-chan.” Haru looked sad as she started to also realize what it sounded like Morgana was saying. 

“It’s not funny you know?” Goro folded his arms, “We all made a promise.” 

“Promise…” Morgana looked down at the floor then back up, “I guess I’m going to have to be the bad guy here and break that promise. This place will soon disappear. The least I can do is send you guys home first.” 

“This isn’t funny Morgana!” Ann started to move toward him to stop him but before she could reach him Morgana touched the cup which sent out a blinding light. When the light faded away the team found themselves back in Shibuya but things didn’t look right, “What? Why is there more of this water?!” 

“Look over there.” Yusuke pointed at the people who were frozen in the streets, “Did we do something wrong?” 

“No look,” Makoto pointed up at the sky as the clouds began to fade away, “It’s… day time?” 

Suddenly as the sky cleared of clouds the ‘water’ surrounding them turned firm and glossy, cracking around where they stood. The moment Akira shifted to get a look at what had happened the surface shattered like glass sending a reaction across the entire area for as far as he could see. 

With the glass flying into the air the bone structures of Mementos began to melt away as well. It was actually very pretty to watch the glass dance through the sunlight. Akira couldn’t help himself as his hand found Goro’s to hold it just as everything began to glow. 

“The whole world is a product of cognition,” Morgana spoke from behind them drawing everyone’s attention as he was glowing as well. Parts of the street began to come up as Morgana continued to talk, “not just the Metaverse. It can be remade freely just like you guys and everyone else.” 

“Mona don’t go!” Akira called, then rushed to try and reach him only to be cut off when a large crack cut off Akira’s path, “You idiot, you promised!” 

“I’m sorry, a new world is being born though.” Morgana looked around, “It’ll be a world where mankind is no longer held captive. The world that you made. It’ll shine brightly so long as you hold hope in your hearts.” Morgana then began to float up into the air.

“Mona come back!” Goro shouted, “We want you in that world too!” 

“I’ll be in your hearts.” Morgana smiled, “There’s no such thing as the _‘real_ ’ world after all. What each of you feels and sees, those are what make your reality.” 

“Morgana no!” Akira reached his hand up as the ground dissolved under them in bright white light. 

“Sorry,” Morgana apologized as he faded away, “I love you guys. I’ll never forget about you.”

When the light faded the party found themselves standing in the middle of a cold and busy Shibuya. People walked by as if nothing had happened. They instead talked about Christmas plans and what to have for dinner. Akira couldn’t bring himself to care about that. Morgana was gone. How could they enjoy Christmas without him too?

“The Meta-Nav is gone.” Haru said,” I guess that means Mementos is gone as well.” 

“So that’s it then...Mona is...gone.” Futaba looked like she was about to cry and Akira could relate. 

“Stop being all gloomy. Mona could laugh at us you know?” Ryuji tried to cheer people up.

“I wonder...if we managed to change the people’s hearts.” Goro looked around them as he listened for anyone who might be talking about Shido but there was no one talking about that. It was dates and Christmas no matter how hard they listened until someone asked loudly if the country would be okay without a prime minister. 

“Maybe not but there’s no way we’re getting Shido to run this country. Did you get all those shady rumors? I’d rather not have a prime minister than trust that crook.” Another man in a suit laughed. 

“I think we did.” Akira found Goro’s hand, “We’ll just have to hope Sae-san can get him now.” 

“Yeah.” Goro agreed. 

“Enough with the gloomy shit!” Ryuji snapped around, “We just kick the shit out of a _god._ We should be celebrating!” 

“Oh oh! How about what athletes do after a win?” Haru raised her hand. 

“A huddle?” Makoto questioned. 

“Yes!”

“Right now?” Futaba looked around at all the people before shrugging, “Yeah let’s do it here.” 

“Hell yeah,” Ryuji stepped forward to put his hand out before everyone else closed in to put their hands on top of his, “What do we say?” 

“I think just a ‘we did it’ would be enough.” Goro glanced around, “Quickly, everyone is looking at us.” 

“Aren’t you used to being looked at?” Ann questioned. 

“This is not the same.” Goro mumbled. 

“Alright alright, ready? Three-two-” Akira tried to calm them down before he counted down and they threw their hands up with a cry of victory. It gained a lot of attention but people soon went right back to ignoring them, “Alright, it’s getting cold.” Akira said after a cold breeze whipped past them.

“It’s snowing.” Futaba pointed up, “Looks like a white Christmas!” 

“I think this is a good point to break on today.” Makoto suggested, “We can meet up at Lablanc tomorrow to have one more meeting on the situation.” 

“Sounds like a good plan.” Yusuke agreed. 

“It’ll be Christmas too so we can make it a real party!” Ann looked rather proud of herself. 

“I’m sure Sojiro will love that.” Futaba giggled, “Okay! Let’s head home team. I’m about to freeze here.” 

“How about an impromptu date?” Akira questioned Goro.

“Impromptu huh? You’re assuming I didn’t make plans.” Goro folded his arms. 

“I’m in trouble.” Akira chuckled nervously. He hadn’t gotten a gift.

“I’ll accept you as my gift if you forgot one. Futaba, let Boss know he’ll be with me.” Goro linked his arm with Akira’s. 

“You got it!” Futaba gave a thumbs up before everyone went their separate ways.

“Well, I suppose we should head out.” Goro tugged Akira’s arm a little before a voice interrupted them.

“I didn’t expect to find the world’s saviors out here on Christmas Eve.” Sae said as she approached through the crowd, “I thought you two would already be at some fancy little date spot.” 

“We were on our way,” Goro turned to Sae. 

“Can I borrow a minute of your time before you go?” Sae asked. 

“Sure.” Akira put his hands in his pockets in an effort to keep them warm. 

“I want to first thank you guys for taking my request. It obviously wasn’t very easy to complete.” Sae bowed, “With your actions, I hope that we’ll see a change in public opinion. So long as people want to see him tried we can charge him with enough crimes that he’ll never see outside of his prison cell again.” 

“Good.” Goro folded his arms. 

“Yes, but there is a problem in proving him guilty.” Sae said looking troubled, “I know I said I wanted to do this without dragging you guys into it but it’ll be difficult unless the correlation between the Metaverse and the mental shutdowns can be made.” 

“You want one of us to turn himself into the police.” Goro said with a hint of sadness. 

“I want _him_ to turn himself into the police.” Sae pointed to Akira. 

“We already made it so Shido won’t implicate you.” Akira said to Goro as he played with his bangs. “I’m the best one to testify against him. Even Sae-san knows it.”

“That’s right.” Sae agreed. “It will put you on center stage, you’ll be treated as a hero who saved this country but at the same time there’s no way the police or the public prosecutors will let that be. They don’t want to lose face to you or the Phantom Thieves.” 

“The minute he turns himself in he’ll be arrested.” Goro summarized. 

“Yes, but if you turn yourself in we can try and control the damage they can do. If you don’t, they may try to come up with fabricated crime to arrest everyone. If you turn yourself in you will be arrested, but you’ll be the only one. With your past record the police will try and strike there to control the narrative. They’ll treat this arrest as a ‘grave misconduct’ and revoke your probation.” Sae explained, “from there you’ll be sent to juvenile hall and put in solitary confinement so you can’t have visitors. But so long as you testify without bringing up the Phantom Thieves as heroes they should be content. If you do things this way we can protect your team.” Sae explained and Akira couldn’t deny that. She was right that if he did things this way he could protect not just Goro but everyone else as well.

“With your help I can close all the cases surrounding Shido and expose all who worked with him.” Sae promised, “And I’ll be sure that Akechi-kun’s name is kept out of it completely. Even those who would try to use his name as leverage won’t manage to do any damage if I can help it.” 

Akira twisted his bangs more as he thought on what might happen to him if the police got their hands on him again. He did make Goro agree to let him do this, but now he had the time to really think about it. Would they use needles on him again? Cuff him and beat him? They wouldn’t allow a Phantom Thief to be seen as a hero so what would stop them from beating the hell out of him again? It sent a sharp chill down his spine.

“You don’t have to do it tonight,” Sae said, “but to get things moving it would have to be tomorrow.”

“We’ll talk about it.” Goro pulled Akira’s arm. “For now I’ll be taking him with me. Excuse us Sae-san.” 

“Of course, Merry Christmas.” Sae nodded to them both before she turned to leave as Goro dragged Akira in the other direction. 

Akira wasn’t sure if he was just trying to put space between them or if this was part of his Christmas plans. After a short walk away Goro stopped them to check his phone. He was silent for a few minutes which left Akira with lots of time to stew over what he needed to do. He was scared, but he had to ask himself if he was more scared of his friends getting hurt if he didn’t do this. The answer was yes but it didn’t make him brave, it just meant one fear was greater than the other. 

“--ra. Akira.” Goro called to him, drawing Akira out of his thoughts. “You okay?” 

“Yeah, sorry. What’s up?” Akira pushed his glasses up his nose.

“How about we just go to my apartment?” Goro suggested. 

“I’m fine.” 

“We have had a very _long_ day. There’s nothing wrong with just spending the night together instead.” Goro took one of Akira’s hands.

“Maybe not but we won’t get a date night like this for a while.” Akira rubbed his thumb over the top of Goro’s hand as he stared at the ground. He wouldn’t even be allowed visitors according to Sae.

“Then why don’t we just get on a train?” Goro suggested in a tone Akira had figured out a long time ago was the one he used when he wasn’t being serious. 

“You know why.” Akira answered for the sake of the conversation.

“I don’t want to sound insensitive, I know you’re scared of the police, but this is the choice you made. I can’t take it back from you no matter how much I want to protect you.” Goro touched Akira’s face to make him look up, “You’re strong though. You’re so powerful that you put a bullet through a god’s head not even an hour ago. This won’t break you, but if it does. I’ll help you put the pieces back.” 

Akira leaned forward to press their foreheads together with a soft sigh. His free hand played with something in his pocket before he suddenly remembered the keys Lavenza gave him. “I have something for you.” Akira said as he pulled back to take the keys out. “Lavenza gave them to me. One’s for you.” 

“A key?” Goro questioned taking one to inspect it.

“I think they’re meant to go into the Velvet Room with.” Akira guessed. “If we both have one then even when I’m in solitary confinement I can see you. I think?”

Goro hummed as he turned the key in his fingers before he pocketed it in his coat. “I’ll have to make sure I don’t lose it then. Shall we go home?”

“Let’s try this date you planned. It’s my first Christmas being in a relationship.” Akira admitted as he played with his bangs nervously. “I promise I’ll be okay. I’ll wait until tomorrow to worry about… well… tomorrow.” 

“Okay then.” Goro smiled then gave Akira’s hand a tug to lead him back toward the station. 

Akira wasn’t really paying attention to where Goro was taking them. It didn’t even register to him that they were in Kichijoji until he looked up to the SANPOROAD sign. The entire area was lit up bright for Christmas with couples talking excitedly about what they had bought and where they were going to view lights next. 

Goro led them carefully through the throngs of people toward the Jazz Jin before taking them both inside. Muhen greeted them both before Goro guided Akira to the table in front of the stage marked with a reserve note. “Honestly I had planned this before Sae-san came to ask us about that last mission. I didn’t even think to cancel anything when she did come since I forgot about it.” Goro took the reserve note down then pulled Akira’s set out for him to sit.

“The Jazz Jin, huh?” Akira asked then sat down, getting comfortable, he propped his chin up on his closed fist as he waited for Goro to sit. “You really like this place don’t you?” 

“I thought making a call back to one of our first _date_ spots would be a nice touch.” Goro removed his gloves to set them aside. “Whether you realized it or not there really were a few times I brought you here with the intention of them being something of a date.”

“Oh good, I’m glad we were both thinking of it as a date at random times. Since we’re admitting to things there were a few bathroom runs that were me spitting up flowers.” Akira grinned. “I wasn’t really all that sure you were interested in me.” 

“I never lied about finding you interesting.” Goro shook his head with a smile. “What we did today… it honestly feels already like it was a long time ago.” 

“No kidding.” Akira leaned back in his chair pausing his train of thought when Muhen came over to serve them speciality Christmas cocktails. “Thank you for this.” 

“Considering what’s about to happen to you I wish I had made this more elaborate.” Goro fiddled with the straw in his glass. “I’ll just have to make something very extravagant when you’re released.” 

“Goro, it’s okay. I’m a simple country boy from Inaba. You could have just taken me shopping at Junes and called it a night and I’d be happy. Especially since I get to spend this time with you.” Akira couldn’t help but laugh at the idea that back home that kind of date is what most people would be doing.

“Oh there’s shopping after this, and I got us a cake” Goro took a drink at last. “I’ll tease that I plan to make you breakfast as well so no trying to sneak off to turn yourself in while I’m asleep. Not that you’d be able to sneak past me.” 

“Ah yes, trying to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night while in one of your infamous death grips will never get old.” Akira laughed. “Do you think I could get paid by some tabloid if I told them how clingy you are in your sleep?” 

“Probably.” Goro rolled his eyes fondly watching as the singer for the night took to the stage. “I think my mother would have liked you.” 

“That’s out of nowhere.” Akira looked over to his boyfriend with a raised eyebrow. “Were you thinking about meeting her if we’d died back there?”

“A little. Honestly, Christmas always makes me think about her. It was my last good memory with her.” Goro watched the singer begin to sing as he continued. “We were picking up a cake after she got off of work at the nightclub. I saw this silly toy gun in the window of some shop and when I saw it I knew I wanted it more than _anything_ else in the world. I begged her for that toy but she told me no and we kept on. When we got to the store for the cake she told me to wait for her because she’d forgotten her wallet. I must have waited there for something like an hour, the cashier was starting to get worried when my mother came back in. She paid for our cake and home we went.”

“When we got home there on the table was a poorly wrapped gift. It was just a brown paper bag with a bunch of tape around it. Honestly getting it open was probably the second hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life.” Goro chuckled at this and Akira laughed as well trying to picture what could have been the first. “I finally get the bag off and it’s not the gun I saw in the window but some knock off instead, but I didn’t care. It was still the most amazing toy gun I’ve ever seen in my life. I ran to my room to grab an old towel I’d fashioned into a cape and taped a big yellow A onto then came back out to announce that I was a hero come to save the world.” As Goro talked Akira closed his eyes to just listen and picture a smaller Goro with his little red cape and cheap plastic gun excitedly claiming he was a hero to his mother. 

“She thought it was hilarious and took a bunch of pictures to put up around the apartment. She told me she was proud that her son was a hero meant to save the world.” Akira opened his eyes again to look over at Goro who looked like he might have been tearing up now. “I wish I could tell her that I really did get there. I really did become that hero. I just… lost my way a little.” 

“You still think you need to earn back the right to think she’d be proud of you?” Akira asked. 

“No. I think I got it back. Thanks to you and everyone else. You put me back on the path I wanted to be on when I was younger.” Goro turned to Akira yet again with the warmest smile Akira had ever seen on his face. “Thanks to you I’m able to live my life like she would have wanted me to. Thank you.” 

Akira stared at Goro for a few minutes as the jazzy Christmas song the band played went on in the background. After another minute Akira’s lips twitched in a loving smile, “You’re welcome, Goro.” He wasn’t going to dismiss Goro’s thanks like it wasn’t important. He wanted to express his gratitude and Akira was going to accept it as it. He didn’t need to one up Goro. He just needed to love him and that was what he would do. 

Akira shifted his seat closer to Goro’s before pulling his boyfriend in for a soft and sweet kiss. Tomorrow he was going to turn himself into the police and be separated from this man he loved so much, but he wasn’t worried now. Akira knew that no matter how long they were separated Goro was okay now, he wasn’t going to lose his way again and if he did, Akira would return to get him back on track.

“I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i did a thing where i gave goro access to akira’s compendium bc i thought it was neat! i also changed satanael bc frankly it’s more fun this way and kinda romantic. also i liked giving them a cute date thing that going to the cafe rather than akira just yeeting himself into the arms of the police. just… oof. poor baby. goro doesn’t want him to but between akira and the rest of the thieves they know that even if goro should be punished in accordance with the law, that law is unjust and he might never see the light of day again. at least this way he can make up for his murdering ways in a meaningful way and one day be back with his BF. :D
> 
> preview: 
> 
> _“You want your gloves back by the way?” Akira wiggled his fingers at Goro._
> 
> _“Hm...just give me one.” Goro started to pick at the glove he wanted back so Akira took it off to give to him before watching his boyfriend put the glove on then link their bare hands together. “There.”_
> 
> _“Sap.”_


	38. is this year over yet? pls be over already

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the new year is upon them but can the thieves be happy with their leader in prison? wait, when did he get out? why? wait no, why would he be in prison at all?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the third semester bullshit begins!

The morning came faster than Akira cared for. He woke up at sunrise, the anxiety of turning himself in making it impossible for Akira to really get any more sleep. Sure, fighting a god yesterday and the long night of hard sex had done wonders to wear him out physically, but his mind just would not shut the fuck up and he hated it. He was so worried about what was going to happen once he was in police custody that no matter how much his limbs felt like lead he couldn’t actually sleep any longer.

Goro continued to sleep next to him and all Akira did was turn over to look at him. Akira gently moved Goro’s hair away from his face, careful not to wake him, then just watched him sleep. Over the last month and change Goro had started to relax more around him so seeing his peaceful expression wasn’t rare. This expression was different though. It wasn’t just Goro relaxed, it was him completely vulnerable. Out in the world there was a chance people would see Goro slightly unguarded but this Goro was only for Akira.

“How long have you been awake?” Goro questioned before opening his eyes.

“How’d you know I was awake without looking? Akira asked. “Was it the hair?” 

“No. I just knew.” Goro shifted about so he was propped up on his elbow. “How’d you sleep?”

“Let’s not discuss me. How about you?” Akira turned the question around. 

“You know we can wait until later to do what Sae-san asked.” Goro reached across to push Akira’s hair out of his face. “We can see the others or--”

“You know we can’t.” Akira shook his head as he took Goro’s hand to pull it down to his chest to hold it there. “If we end up going to the others they’ll know something is wrong and try to stop me. If you end up with backup you’ll never let me go either.” 

“Like you won’t let me?” Goro questioned as he leaned closer to wrap both of his arms around Akira to pull him into a hug.

“I wasn’t the only one who put it in Shido’s head that you shouldn’t suffer for what he did to you.” Akira brushed his hand through Goro’s hair a few times. “It might not be the same as my love but everyone loves you too.” 

“I don’t see why.” Goro buried his face in Akira’s chest.

“Because you’re trying to be better and they see that.” Akira ran his hands along Goro’s spine, counting each knob as he went up to the base of his neck. “You’ll keep getting better and making up for your mistakes, but in ways that actually help people. I know it.” 

“You’ve got too much faith in me.” Goro sighed, tracing random shapes into Akira’s chest. “I know there’s no point in trying to stop you. So I’ll just have to work on how to save you.”

“I wouldn’t wish for anyone else in my corner.” Akira moved Goro back from his chest to press a kiss to his forehead then all the way down to his lips. “How about you cook me that breakfast before it’s time for me to go?” 

“I’m going with you idiot,” Goro shook his head, “but I’ll cook you that breakfast, as a treat.” 

_____________________________________________________

After breakfast was over and a little more quiet flirting and a lot of kissing, Goro and Akira left the apartment to head to the police station. The snow was still falling as it had last night and though Akira didn’t have his own coat with him one of Goro’s fit him just fine. 

Akira sent a text to Sae to let her know he was on his way before they had even boarded the train so by the time they arrived Sae was already waiting for the two of them outside the station. Akira greeted her with a short wave before turning to Goro.

“It’s time to go.” Akira said. “I’ll make sure to keep out of trouble.” 

“I’ll try to send you letters when I can. They’ll at least give you mail.” Goro pressed his forehead against Akira’s.

“I’m sorry.” Akira apologized. 

“For what?” 

“You’re going to have to tell the others what happened. I didn’t prepare anything beforehand to explain. I didn’t know how to tell them. And… look for Mona? I refuse to believe he’s just gone.” Akira sighed, holding Goro’s hands for that moment to savor the feeling for a bit longer. He didn’t want to go but he knew that he had to. “Do me a favor and keep everyone together okay? You’ve got the same power I do. I know you can do it.” 

“I’ll try.” Goro sighed, pressing a kiss to Akira’s cheek. He stood still for a moment seeming to savor it when he pulled his hands away from Akira’s to remove his gloves. “I know they’ll take them from you but I want you to give these to you. If I’m even half as great as you think of me I’ll have you out of here when it’s still cold.”

“I’ll make sure to return your coat when I get out.” Akira teased as Goro put the gloves in his hands. “I’ll take care of them.” 

“You better.” Goro scolded Akira before giving him one more kiss then forced Akira to put his gloves on. “If they hurt you tell Sae-san right away.” 

“I’ll be okay.” Akira promised Goro before he pulled away from him to meet Sae. Akira took one last look back at his boyfriend to blow him a quick kiss before finally joining Sae.

“You ready?” Sae questioned. 

“As ready as I’ll ever get.” Akira nodded. “I can’t say I’m completely okay but I’m not running away right now. So you should get me in cuffs before I lose the nerve.” 

“No cuffs,” Sae shook her head, “I’m going to make sure you’re treated with as much respect as possible.” 

“Thanks Sae-san. Did you, uh, tell Makoto?” 

“Not yet. I didn’t have the heart to tell her when she was talking about the party they were going to have at Leblanc. I was tempted to tell you to go before you turn yourself in but I get why you wouldn’t want to do that.” Sae opened the door to let Akira head in first. “You’re doing the right thing.”

“I sure as shit hope so.” Akira rubbed the side of his neck. He paused when he felt the fabric of Goro’s gloves on his neck and it actually comforted him. He let out a sigh then walked in. If he stole even one more look at Goro he would run away from this. He had to be brave. He needed to do this. Even as the snow fell and his thoughts of a happy Christmas with his friends faded from his mind.

Sae led Akira into an interrogation room in the upstairs area. She left him there before leaving promising to be back soon. Akira wasn’t sure how long ticked by as he sat there counting the stitches in Goro’s gloves. Eventually the door opened again but it was not Sae who entered, it was someone familiar looking. 

“Hello Kurusu-kun,” the man greeted him with a soft and understanding smile, “Prosecutor Niijima asked me to ask you questions on behalf of public security. She thought that I might be someone you’re more comfortable with and called for a favor last night. It was lucky I was in Tokyo visiting a friend. My name is Naoto Shirogane.” 

“I know who you are.” Akira leaned back in his seat. “You were in Inaba years ago during the murders. You were asking people in my neighborhood what they knew about one of the victims.”

“That was one of the reasons Niijima-san asked me to help here.” Naoto sat across from Akira before opening up a folder. “She gave me all the work she’s done so far on the case involving Representative Shido as well as work done by Goro Akechi before the SIU director dismissed him.” 

“They won’t dismiss you?” Akira asked. 

“I don’t work for the SIU. I’m a special detective asked to help work on difficult cases. As such the only people who will be handling you between court appearances will be myself, my partner Touko Aoi, and a special officer assigned from the police department Akihiko Sanada.” Naoto explained as he laid out photos pointing to each of the people as their names came up.

“Akihiko Sanada…” Akira repeated the name looking at the man in question. 

“You know him?” 

“Not personally. One of my best friends said Sanada-san was his bisexual awakening.” Akira chuckled.

“Well, that’ll be something to talk about in the future.” Naoto smiled. “Now, let’s start the interview. I’ll be recording everything going forward to share with my colleagues so we may keep a consensus on information.” 

“Interview…?”

“This is not an interrogation. As far as I’m concerned you are only being arrested as an act of protection. You are going to go into solitary confinement to ensure no one can hurt you and I will be working with the Inaba police department head detective to ensure your criminal record is expunged.” Naoto explained very clearly. “Kanji Tatsumi tells me you’re a good kid. I tend to put a lot of faith in his words.” 

“You know Tatsumi-san?” 

“He and I have been friends since those foggy days back in Inaba.” Naoto explained looking thoughtful. “I’m going to do my best to protect you.” 

“Thank you, Detective Shirogane.” Akira didn’t know what else to say.

“Naoto is fine. Let’s begin.” Naoto reached over to start the recording on his device to start recording everything Akira had to tell.

________________________________________________________________

Six days had passed since Akira turned himself in. During that time he had been interviewed by Naoto and his partner a few times. Sae checked in on him once to make sure he hadn’t been hurt, and when he wasn’t in an interview room he was by himself in a cell in juvenile hall. If he had to be taken from the hall to the station or the courthouse Akira was assigned special transportation from Akihiko. 

The days had just started to blend together when the door to his cell opened and Akihiko stood in the center of the open door. Akira sat up from his bed to adjust his glasses as he tried to cope with the extra light coming into his cell now. “Sanada-san?” 

“You’re getting released.” Akihiko said motioning for Akira to come closer. 

“What? Why? What about Shido?” Akira stood up.

“I don’t know why. I was just told that you’re getting released. Come on. We’ll give you back your clothes and call your guardian.” Akihiko waited for Akira to exit the room before leading him down the cell block toward the exit. 

“Did something happen to throw out the case?” Akira was worried. 

“I don’t think so.” Akihiko shook his head. “All I know is that you’re being released. Maybe they figure you’re a better willing witness than needing you to be locked up.”

“I guess.” Akira frowned. Sae had told him that the others were working on finding the woman who had testified against him in his original case but they weren’t close to finding her yet. She’d left Inaba shortly after Akira did so it was a task to search for her even with the cooperation of the Inaba police department. There was only one person in Inaba he could see as trying to help him, Dojima.

“Best not to look too close as to why. Just be happy you’ll be home for New Years.” Akihiko smiled at him before leading Akira to a room where a small box sat on the table. “I’m going to call your guardian. You get dressed and I’ll come back to let you know what’s going on.” 

Once Akihiko was gone Akira stared at the door for a full minute before he finally started to change. He wasn’t going to figure out what was going on from here. He needed to just accept that he was being released and find the others. Akira was fondly looking at Goro’s gloves when Akihiko returned.

“All set?” Akihiko questioned. 

“Yeah.” Akira answered as he pulled on the gloves then put his dead phone in his pocket.

“I couldn’t get ahold of your guardian but I can give you a ride to anywhere you like.” Akihiko motioned with his thumb toward the door. 

“Uh, no offence but I’ve had some pretty bad runs with cops.” Akira cleared his throat. “I’d rather just borrow a charger for my phone to contact someone or walk.”

“I get it.” Akihiko dug around in his pockets to pull out some cash. “I’ll give you some money for the train in that case. I get the feeling you probably don’t really want to wait around for your phone to charge.” 

“Kind of. I’m still not sure I’m actually awake.” Akira laughed nervously before accepting the cash he was being handed. Akihiko walked Akira outside and all the way to the gate before he stopped. 

“You’re a good kid Kurusu-kun. Good luck out there.” The note of finality in Akihiko’s voice was odd, Akira still needed to make sure Shido was tried, but maybe it just meant that Akihiko wouldn’t be involved in the case anymore. 

“Okay…how to get home...” Akira looked around the street before his eyes fell on a familiar face, “Maruki-sensei?” 

“Hey,” Maruki greeted Akira as he pushed off of the car behind him, “need a ride home Kurusu-kun?”

“How’d you know?” Akira raised an eyebrow. 

“I might have helped get you released early.” Maruki shrugged. “You helped me a lot, this seemed like the least I could do for you.”

“How?” Akira approached Maruki ready to get in the car to go home. 

“I’m your therapist. Don’t underestimate how much power my words have.” Maruki chuckled as he opened the car door for Akira to let him get in. “This’ll be our little surprise.” Maruki said once he got in the car on the other side.

“Uhhh,” Akira was very confused now but at the same time he didn’t really feel like getting into a packed train car to get home, “thanks?”

“No thanks needed.” Maruki began to drive. “I was pretty upset to hear you’d been arrested because you turned yourself in to testify against Shido. I knew there had to be something I could do.” 

“You and everyone else I know.” Akira chuckled. “Weird to think I’m out.” Akira leaned his head back against the headrest to stare out the window of the car as they drove down the road. “How’d you do it?” 

“Don’t worry about it.” Maruki dismissed the question once more. Car rides always had a tendency of making Akira sleepy, yet he hadn’t expected to be as tired as he suddenly was. His eyes were heavy and his body was warm. He was starting to nod off when Maruki encouraged him to rest. Soon he would be home with the people who cared about him and everything would be okay.

______________________________________________________

“--ra. Akira--” a voice called to Akira through his sleep but when he opened his eyes there was no one there. That wasn’t the important thing though what was important was the fact that Akira was not in Maruki’s car, or his prison cell, nor even the Velvet Room. Akira woke up in the nurse’s station of Shujin where he often went to meet with Maruki. 

“What the fuck?” Akira muttered, rubbing his eyes before a voice spoke over the intercom announcing that class would be dismissed soon which sounded fine but then it repeated, sounding slower and wobbly. “I think… I should go home.” Akira told himself before he motioned to get up. 

As he went to stand Akira looked down at himself to find he was in his former Velvet Room prison stripes. This had to be some kind of wicked dream. Akira hadn’t been back to the Velvet Room since they defeated that god. 

He made his way out of the nurse’s office to a dark hallway and the school bell echoing through the campus. He looked around trying to parse what was happening but as he searched for people or answers he came up with nothing. Akira took a few steps toward the end of the hall only for a familiar voice to sound around him. 

It was difficult to make out but when Akira strained his ears he could make out Ryuji’s voice talking about track and scholarships to make things easier on his mother. Akira kept moving as the voice faded out until he saw a blue glitter in the distance. He stopped to squint at the light trying to make out the shape from his far place away from it but he just couldn’t. It wasn’t his glasses, those normally didn’t matter in dreams or Metaverse places. It was the weird haze of the dream that was causing it instead. 

“It… might be a butterfly?” Akira wondered. “That’s Lavenza right?” Maybe this was some kind of Velvet Room related bullshit. He needed to follow it and find out. 

Akira passed by another class only for the familiar voice of Ann to speak next. He paused to stare at the class wondering if she was inside but as he thought about it he doubted it. This was just a dream of his but somehow he was hearing the regrets the others had? Ann lamented the fact that Shiho had moved schools so they couldn’t do silly friend things everyday like she wanted to. She sounded like she was crying and Akira wanted to give her a hug.

Akira moved along from there to keep following the butterfly. It was hovering waiting for him and made Akira strongly believe that it was Lavenza trying to show him something. He made his way outside for more of his friend’s voices to reach him. Makoto spoke about her sister and once he walked into the doors to the next building Haru’s came next. Yusuke mourned his shattered relationship with Madarame and how he loved someone he couldn’t be with, while Futaba spoke about missing her mother and how she just wanted her whole family together and happy.

The butterfly continued on a path that led Akira right to the front doors but Akira had to pause when Goro’s voice sounded next. “What do I want? In some magical fantasy I suppose I would like that Akira was never convicted of any crime. That he came here because of some great opportunity instead. I guess for a selfish wish… I’d want my mother to be alive. If she’d just never loved Shido then she might still be here--” Akira stared up at the ceiling with a sad expression before he turned toward the exit doors. Lavenza had led him here. It was time to leave. 

“Where are you going?” A voiceless question entered his mind making Akira stop once more. 

“I’m leaving this place.” Akira answered, looking around. There was no voice to assign to this question but he knew that someone was speaking to him. 

“I see. You do not yet accept this place yet. Well, I won’t force you into anything. Let’s meet again.” The voiceless being spoke again before the doors opened to allow Akira to leave. 

When Akira awoke, Maruki was on his side of the car shaking him awake. “We’re here.” Maruki announced before he stepped back for Akira to look down a familiar backstreet. “I’ll let you head on back on your own and take my leave here. You’ll be busy with all your friends welcoming you back I think.” 

“Yeah. Thanks Maruki-sensei.” Akira got out of the car and faced him to bow respectfully. “I still don’t know what you did but you helped me out and I appreciate that.” 

“Don’t mention it. Go on, enjoy New Years.” Maruki waved him along so Akira left. Akira still felt a little hazy as he made his way to the front doors of Leblanc to look at the sign which read open. He took in a deep breath before opening the door to head inside. 

Sojiro was at his usual post behind the counter but rather than a newspaper in his hand he had some kind of stapled together document. No one else was in the store at the moment and the news played about what events would be taking place tomorrow for New Years.

Today was the thirty-first.

“Be with you in just a moment.” Sojiro announced without looking up from his paper. 

“Take your time.” Akira put his hands into his pockets before Sojiro suddenly lowered what he was reading and turned sharply to look at him. 

“Akira?!” Sojiro looked like someone had just slapped him with a dead fish, confused and maybe a little disgusted. “How?! You--you didn’t break out did you?”

“Nope.” Akira shrugged. “They just let me out.” 

“That’s,” Sojiro looked further confused before he shook his head, “I’m not going to question a miracle when I see one. Have you told anyone else yet?” 

“Nope. Phone is dead. They didn’t let me shut it off before they took it from me.” Akira pulled his phone out of his pocket to wiggle it and show it to Sojiro. “I was going to charge it and then maybe send some messages.” 

“Let me. We’ll call it a Phantom Thieves New Years celebration and I’ll surprise them with you.” Sojiro was very keen on this idea but Akira wondered if Futaba was listening in. 

“Goro will punch me if I don’t let him know I’m out you know?” Akira said deadpan. 

“Oh he’ll get over it. This is what I want to do. I’ll get it set up and have them come here tonight. Get yourself cleaned up.” Sojiro pointed to the bathhouse.

“Let me plug my phone in first.” Akira passed him to head upstairs to his room. Nothing had been touched since he left. Even his reference books were open to the same page it had been on before they went into Mementos. It almost made him sad because it only reminded him that Morgana was gone. Morgana might have been a cat, but he was Akira’s cat and friend. He just really wished Mona was able to come home too.

____________________________________________________________

That night came faster than Akira realized. One by one the team showed up downstairs with Sojiro warning them all to stay out of Akira’s room because tonight was not a night for crying on his bed because they missed him. Akira had to wonder which of them actually did that or if Sojiro was just being dramatic so they would stay out. 

An hour after the first one arrived Goro showed up, meaning everyone was finally in place. Akira didn’t know when Sojiro wanted him to come down and figured that he might have a dramatic idea in place. After maybe ten minutes of playful catch up Sojiro announced he had a New Years surprise for everyone and they needed to close their eyes.

“And they call me dramatic.” Akira rolled his eyes and stood to wait silently by the top of the stairs. After a moment Sojiro moved around to the stairs to spot Akira and motion for him to come down. So with all the grace he had as a Phantom Thief, Akira reached the bottom of the stairs without making a sound. Once there Akira was able to look around at everyone pausing when his eyes fell on a familiar black and white cat. 

“You can look now!” Sojiro announced next to Akira drawing everyone’s gaze over to him. There was a long pause as everyone, including Akira, had to figure out what was happening. 

Akira began to open his mouth to point out Morgana when Goro launched himself from his seat to attach himself to Akira with words that he could vaguely make out as an insult on his intelligence. Akira stubbled a little but managed to keep his footing only for it to be tested again as Futaba latched onto him then everyone else came around as well. “Can’t. Breathe.” Akira said in a strained voice as everyone’s joint crushing hug was just a little too much but no one actually pulled away.

“That’s what you get for not telling anyone you got out, dummy!” Ann berated him. 

“You could have just put a stupid thumbs up in chat you know?!” Futaba sobbed.

“Phone was dead.” Akira tried to explain before finally one by one people began to let him go sans for Goro who tangled his hands into Akira’s hair to pull him in for a kiss.

“How are you out?” Makoto asked after an awkwardly long kiss. It seemed to be what Goro needed to remember that they weren’t alone before he pulled away, face flushed and expression annoyed.

“I’m not sure. I woke up this morning and Sanada-san said I was being released and then the next thing I know I’m outside.” Akira shook his head. “More importantly!” Akira pointed at Morgana. “How?” 

“Well, best we figure is that his Metaverse self vanished so the real world is still here!” Haru explained picking Morgana up to walk him over to Akira who took him to hug him.

“You’re squeezing too hard!” Morgana complained trying to wiggle free. 

“Nope don’t care. I missed you so much. I thought you were really gone.” Akira gave Mona a tight hug. “Don’t do that again.” 

“Like I have a choice!” Morgana tried to wiggle out again so Akira let him sit in the nearest chair to him.

“You being released makes absolutely no sense.” Goro frowned after a long silence from him.

“Well…” Ann dragged out, “maybe we don’t question it?” 

“What about Shido’s trial though?” Futaba asked. 

“No idea. All I can do is assume that I’ll be called in to testify as a public witness and not a prisoner?” Akira looked around.

“No matter how we attempt to rationalize this, his release is extremely unusual.” Goro touched his chin in thought. “More than that it’s only been a few days since he turned himself in. Even if they were to over turn his previous sentence his release wouldn’t be so short notice.” Goro shook his head. 

“I agree that the circumstances are strange but at the same time I think we should at least enjoy tonight as is.” Yusuke suggested. “We can sort this out after the New Year.” 

“I’m inclined to agree with Yusuke.” Akira nodded. “You don’t want me home for New Years?” 

“Don’t be stupid. Of course I do. I’m just worried about what is going on to get you released.” Goro sighed sounding defeated. “After New Years we’ll meet up here and talk about it. Alright?” 

“Okay!” Ann cheered. “Tonight we party!” 

“Yeah!” Futaba agreed.

The night carried on happily. Sojiro made soba for everyone then tales were exchanged about what they were doing to save Akira and about their plans for the new year. Yusuke’s choice of scarf was brought into question and Akira got to tease Ryuji about the fact he got to meet Akihiko in person. 

“BRO. TELL ME YOU GOT HIS NUMBER.” Ryuji grabbed hold of both Akira’s shoulders dramatically. 

“Dude, he’s way _**way**_ older than you.” Akira laughed. 

“ _I know that but, like, BRO._ ” Ryuji whined, making everyone laugh at him.

“You said you also met Naoto Shirogane?” Goro asked. 

“I did. He was handling most of my interroga--excuse me, _interviews_. He wouldn’t call our talks interrogations because he knew what happened to me the last time.” Akira explained. “He’s a lot cooler than I remember. I guess that kind of thing comes with age.” 

“I would have liked to meet him once. Even if I was faking being a great detective I’ve always admired Shirogane-san.” Goro crossed his legs as he sank into deep thought. 

“So I’m hearing here that my bro and my boyfriend are both jealous I got to meet their idols. This is astounding.” Akira laughed, earning a quick jab in the side from Goro in response and a laugh from everyone else.

The battle with that malevolent god felt so long ago now and somehow the fact he had been in jail until just this morning felt even longer ago. By the end of the night Akira decided he was going to go home with Goro to enjoy some time together with his boyfriend and his pet-might-actually-be-a-cat-now-but-also-still-a-brother.

“You know,” Morgana poked up from his bag to look at Akira and Goro as they rode the train to Goro’s apartment, “I’ve decided I’m pretty happy like this. I might be a cat, but it just means I can keep an eye on you in ways people don’t expect.” 

“I can say I wouldn’t want you any other way.” Akira smiled petting Morgana. “Maybe a little fluffier.”

“He’s fine the way he is. If he had any more fur my coats would be ruined.” Goro complained. “Every time I came home he was sleeping on some other piece he dragged out.”

“You had him?” Akira questioned. He had thought that Morgana would have stayed with Futaba.

“I missed you,” Goro admitted with a light blush, “and Mona was everywhere with you. So having him around made things less lonely.”

“I tried my best to keep him company when possible.” Morgana explained. “You better not go vanishing again.”

“I don’t plan on it but we’ll have to see what happens after we talk.” Akira leaned back in his seat before Goro leaned his head on Akira’s shoulder. 

“Kitagawa was right though. I’ll be sure to enjoy this while I can.” Goro let a sigh pass through his nose. “I just hope this is supposed to happen.” 

“You want your gloves back by the way?” Akira wiggled his fingers at Goro. 

“Hm...just give me one.” Goro started to pick at the glove he wanted back so Akira took it off to give to him before watching his boyfriend put the glove on then link their bare hands together. “There.”

“Sap.”

_____________________________________________________________

Akira woke the following morning to the smell of breakfast being made. With a long inhale and a stretch Akira sat up to look around. His clothes had been picked up from the floor and were put...somewhere. It was fine. He would just steal some of Goro’s. 

Akira slipped out of bed to go pick through Goro’s closet however as he opened the door to find something comfy to wear he found not just Goro’s clothes but some of his own as well. With a smirk Akira pushed a few pieces aside to make sure he wasn’t crazy before he picked out a black turtleneck shirt and a pair of jeans. He was going to have to tease Goro about stealing his clothes. Once dressed Akira made his way out of the bedroom to find Goro with his hair pulled back and an apron on.

Akira opened his mouth to start his teasing but as he did he felt like something was off. There was new furniture in the living room, and an actual set up for a dining room rather than just sitting around the coffee table and the TV. It had been dark when they’d come in last night and he was more interested in Goro’s mouth than the change in the apartment. However, why did Goro suddenly get more furniture?

“I was about to go wake you up.” Goro looked up from his task of cooking. “Can you try to tame your hair a little?” 

“I thought you liked my mess?” Akira sauntered closer, putting the furniture at the back of his mind for now. “Changed your mind?” Akira looked down at what Goro was cooking only to find that it wasn’t just pancakes. It was more of a traditional breakfast with fish and miso. “Were you practicing while I was away?” 

“What? No. And your hair is amazing but we’re expecting company and I would like you to look a tiny bit more presentable than normal.” Goro looked up at him with a smile before looking back to his cooking. “Wake Mona up too.”

“Okaaaaay?” Akira dragged out as he left Goro to do as requested. He woke Morgana up first before the both of them went to the bathroom to wash their faces and Akira tried to do something with his hair. “So you and Goro stole some of my clothes huh?” Akira asked Morgana as he pushed his hair to one side.

“Huh? Did he?” Morgana’s ear twitched as he looked up at Akira. “If he did I didn’t notice.”

“Sneaky man.” Akira laughed. “Oh well. How’s this look?” 

“If your hair wasn’t as curly as it is you’d look like Maruki.” Morgana joked before Akira scooped him up. 

“I’ll take it. He’s a cool adult.” Akira walked out of the bathroom with Morgana before setting him down on the couch. “How do I look?” Akira asked Goro as he turned to face him. 

“Perfect.” Goro made his way over to Akira to push a piece of free hair behind his ear. “She should be here soon so can you help me set the table?” 

“She?” Akira asked. 

“Ha. Ha. You know who. Now help me set the table.” Goro tugged him along by the belt loop of his jeans to drag him into the kitchen. Akira was still confused but followed Goro and began to grab plates.

“Did I miss you telling me that someone was coming by today?” Akira asked as he moved from the kitchen to the dining table to put out the plates.

“We planned this weeks ago.” Goro put the food he’d cooked on serving plates. “I know you have a goldfish memory sometimes but please don’t tell me you actually forgot this?” 

“Uhhhh, Mona help.” Akira begged. 

“I have no idea what you’re both talking about.” Morgana jumped up on the back of the couch. “Where’d this stuff come from?” Mona was also confused about the furniture. This was probably a bad sign.

“My mother is visiting for a few days to celebrate new years?” Goro explained with a roll of his eyes but Akira stopped dead. What had Goro just said? Akira’s attention was so rattled that when a knock sounded from the door he was startled enough to drop the plate right to the ground causing it to shatter. “Just a sec!” Goro called before rushing to Akira’s side. “Are you okay?!” 

“I’m--yeah.” Akira kneeled down to start picking up pieces. 

“Don’t use your hands you’re going to cut yourself. Just hold on a minute while I let her in.” Goro swatted Akira’s hands away from the glass before he got up to get the door. “Sorry mom. Come in!” 

“You don’t need to apologize to me, sweetheart.” a woman’s voice spoke from the doorway and Akira peeked up over the table to watch as a woman just a little shorter than Goro made her way inside. She looked just like him with long brown hair and striking red eyes. There was no mistake, she was Goro’s mother. “Is this the young man who’s stolen my son’s heart?” She made her way right for Akira. 

“Careful. There’s glass.” Goro grabbed her elbow before she could leave his bubble. “I’ll get the broom and another plate. Mona get off the sofa.” Goro said then went back to the kitchen. 

“Come over here and let me get a good look at you.” Goro’s mother motioned at Akira. He didn’t want to actually go near her though. She couldn’t be real. Despite his reservations though, Akira made his way over where she grabbed his hands and looked him over as she lifted his arms. “Ooooh you’re a handsome one. My son knows how to pick ‘em!” 

“Mother _please_.” Goro sighed, joining them with a broom. One he had the glass cleaned up he threw it out. “Now that we won’t end up with any cut toes, mother this is Akira Kurusu. Akira, this is my mother Chiyoko Akechi.”

“Kurusu is an interesting name.” Chiyoko noted. “I hope you plan on taking his name because Akira Akechi just doesn’t have the same ring.” 

“ **MOM** ,” Goro groaned, rubbing a hand over his face,” you promised you wouldn’t do this. We’re just dating right now. It’s too early to talk about getting married.”

“Okay but if you get married you can adopt and give me some grandkids!” Chiyoko let go of Akira to turn to her son. “Your hair's getting long again. Are you going to cut it or is this you telling me something?” 

“Telling you what? No, I just haven’t had time to get it cut. I’ve been working.” Goro tried to wave her hand off. “Our food is getting cold, we should eat!” 

“Alright.” Chiyoko sighed before looping Akira’s arm in hers to move to the table. “I’m stealing him a little.” 

“As long as you stop talking about kids and my hair you can have him.” Goro mumbled indignantly before leaving the two of them to get their food. 

“So Goro tells me you’re going to school here to get a foot in at Tokyo U right? Smart boy!” Chiyoko said as she sat and pulled Akira down to sit next to her. “You’re from… Inaba was it?” 

“Yeah.” Akira needs to play along for now before he tried to escape to try sorting out his head. 

“That was the town that had all those nasty murders a few years ago right? That must have been horrible to live through!” Chiyoko didn’t even blink as Goro set down their food and drinks. 

“Not the worst thing I’ve been through. I mean… hanahaki am I right?” Akira could test some things this way. Goro’s mother had died to hanahaki so maybe this would be a good place to start?

“Hanahaki?” Goro looked up from pouring tea. “Is that some manga thing Futaba’s got you into?” 

“N-no?” Akira was starting to sweat. “Flower disease? Grows in your lungs because you love someone who might not love you back?” 

“Oh that sounds horrible!” Chiyoko gasped. “I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. It’s not real is it?” 

“No.” Goro said almost flatly. “That’s definitely from some sort of fantasy world in an anime or something.” Goro reached back to pull his ponytail free before he and Chiyoko began to eat. 

“Psst, Akira.” Morgana whispered from the floor right under Akira. “Please tell me you’re as confused as I am. She’s supposed to be dead right?” 

“That’s what I thought.” Akira leaned down to whisper back. 

“Oh right! You have a cat now.” Chiyoko leaned around the table to look under at Morgana. “What’s its name?” 

“His name is Morgana.” Goro answered. 

“Morgana? What a strange name.”

“We call him Mona for short.” Goro picked at his fish before turning to Akira. “After this should we head to the temple?” 

“Huh?” Akira whipped up to look at Goro then Chiyoko. “Oh, uh.” Suddenly he remembered Kasumi wishing to visit the temple at the start of the year. “Oh! Yoshizawa asked me to go with her though.” 

“Who?” Chiyoko questioned. 

“His underclassmen,” Goro explained looking a little annoyed before he relaxed, “she lost her sister last year so Akira’s been helping her through it. I can’t imagine she wants to visit the temple alone after losing her sister… You should go with her. We’ll have more time together later.” 

“Yeah.” Akira nodded then began to eat quickly. It was surprisingly good. Maybe this weird timeline he’d been thrown into was one where Goro learned to actually cook from his mother? Or maybe at least for her. Either way it was kind of nice.

Once they were done and the dishes were clean Akira got his coat and scarf before he rushed out as Chiyoko began to talk about her trip to Tokyo. Morgana darted out after him and once they were alone in the hallway Akira looked down at the cat. “That was… weird. Right?” 

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure his mom is _dead_.” Morgana looked up at Akira waiting for him to lower his bag so he could climb in. “What’s happening?” 

“I don’t know. I just need a minute to think though.” Akira said, taking his phone out to find messages from Kasumi. He didn’t want to go but he needed a moment to think and he didn’t need Goro asking him what was wrong and something was drawing Akira to leave. “Let’s meet with Kasumi like I said then figure something out after.” 

“Okay.” Morgana agreed before he settled back into Akira’s bag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i got yelled at in this chapter for the mom bit but like... I HAD TO. the option was there and i had to go for it. so anyway! things to say. naoto, lets start there. i know there's a tonne of like... drama surrounding this lovely lil detective. i personally believe that if supported properly he would have been trans. so i decided that's how things went in my fic. aside from him the rest of this chapter speaks for itself. 
> 
> i don't know why this fact surprises me but some new discord people told me they were rec'd my fic and like... i'm still reeling over that?????????? people rec my fic?????? i wasn't gunna believe it until they showed me a screenshot and i'm just... im stunned and also need a nap again. 
> 
> I DON'T TAKE PRAISE WELL AND THE FACT SOME OF Y'ALL SHARE MY FIC WITH OTHERS IT CRAZY TO ME OK? THANK YOU I'M SORRY I'M A MESS. i'm going to trot off now and continue to write for my new fic. so i'll catch u later.
> 
> preview: _“Ahh, the infamous Kusuru-senpai. She talks about you all the time. Thank you for accompanying my daughter to the shrine today.” Shinichi once he was closer to them._
> 
> _“Not all the time!” Kasumi flushed red._
> 
> _“No problem at all. It was nice to get out in the New Year air.” Akira smiled._
> 
> _“Well, it was nice meeting you. It’s time we got going.S̶̢̧̤̦͓͍͎͒̊ư̶̛̻̬̯̞̜̪͖̝̬̭̌̏̓̔̉̋̿̕͝m̵̢̢̥̫̲̻̠̞͑̆͗̑͒͝į̶̖̹͔͚͕͂̌̒̆̑͘͠r̴͇̻̺͙̊̆̎ĕ̵͓̹̫͈̼͑” Shinichi spoke and Akira had to shake his head at the sound that actually came out of his mouth. It wasn’t normal. People don’t talk like that. Something was very, very wrong._  
> 


	39. fuck! go back!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Born and raised in Inaba, Akira Kurusu is a well respected high school student with amazing grades, and a heart of gold. His amazing grades gave him an amazing opportunity to attend school in Tokyo for a year. His parents couldn't be prouder of him for branching out and experiencing different things. A few months into living in Tokyo he meets Goro Akechi and he's in love. The wonder of that is that Goro loves him back and they tell each other how they feel within weeks. Together they lead the Phantom Thieves to help people in need. It's nearing the end of Akira's year long stay when Goro asks him to move in with him and just... stay. Akira agreed but suddenly he remembered something. None of this is true. What is going on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Welcome to your new reality! Your happiness is all that matters!

_** KASUMI YOSHIZAWA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:06am: **Kasumi** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Kasumi** : I know you’re in jail.  
**Kasumi** : But I wanted you to know I’m thinking about you.  
**Kasumi** : We made a promise to visit the shrine together but it’s kind of impossible huh?  
**Kasumi** : I miss you.  
**Akira** : hey yoshizawa.  
**Kasumi** : Senpai!  
**Kasumi** : I thought you were in jail!?  
**Akira** : yeah i got let out yesterday.  
**Akira** : idk why.  
**Kasumi** : Oh! Well!  
**Kasumi** : Would you like to meet at Meiji Shrine?  
**Akira** : yeah sounds good. i’m free now if it’s okay.  
**Akira** : i’m bringing mona with me.  
**Kasumi** : Sure! I’ll see you soon!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Once Akira and Morgana arrived at the shrine Akira sent a quick message off to let Kasumi know he was there before she replied that she was already waiting for him. He looked up to spot her waving at him in a bright yellow kimono. 

“Whoa, lookin’ good Yoshizawa.” Morgana struggled out of Akira’s bag to look over his shoulder to speak. 

“Thanks Mona-senpai!” Kasumi bowed. “Happy New Year!” 

“Happy New Year.” Akira greeted her in return. 

“Do I look weird?” Kasumi asked with a light blush as she adjusted her bangs shyly. 

“You look great.” Akira flashed her a smile. 

“Thanks! Your hair looks great by the way. Very stylish.” Kasumi returned the smile before turning to lead them into the shrine. 

“Oh, well when I remembered our promise I had to make sure to look my best for you.” Akira winked, making Kasumi blush more. There was a moment where Akira tried to recall if he’d told Kasumi he was very gay and very in love with his boyfriend but the thought passed as they approached the prayer box. Something was going weird with Goro. He was actually pretty sure he shouldn’t have left Goro. Why did he come out here? He’d made a promise to Kasumi but something else made him feel compelled to? What was this?

Akira was draw out of his questions as the pair of them came out into the courtyard of the shrine. He had expected there to be a large crowd since it was still early but when they looked around there was no one there. This was worrying to say the least. Akira let that thought simmer on the back of his mind as he threw in offerings for himself and Morgana then offered a prayer. 

His prayer was a simple one. ‘Please don’t let any more weird shit be happening.’ He already knew it was a lost cause because Chiyoko existed but he thought he might as well try anyway. 

“There’s not a lot of people here huh?” Kasumi noted looking around after they were done. “I wonder why…? I kind of miss the crowd.” 

“Yeah. I come from a small town and we have loads more people at our shine on New Years.” Akira put his hands into his pockets to turn back around and search for an answer only to have his eyes fall on a group of his friends approaching. 

“Oh! Akira!” Ryuji waved enthusiastically before jogging along to meet Akira halfway. “You didn’t say you were gunna be here. Where’s Goro?” 

“Uh, spending time with his mom?” Akira said quickly. 

“Ah yeah. He said she was coming to visit.” Ryuji nodded while everyone else joined them. Akira felt pretty sure the rest of the team knew Goro’s mom was dead. Why didn’t Ryuji find it weird? He needed to gather more information.

“I promised Yoshizawa I would come with her today so here I am. He understands.” Akira shrugged as Kasumi joined them as well. “Happy New Year everyone.” 

“Happy New Year!” Futaba announced loudly.

“I’m just glad we could all run into each other like this.” Haru smiled brightly.

“You mean you didn’t all plan to show up all at once to meet me here? I’m hurt.” Akira touched a hand to his chest.

“We just got lucky.” Ann giggled.

“Indeed, but what luck it is. Thanks to this I am able to witness this mesmerizing sight.” Yusuke stepped back a little to do his little box figure thing that Akira thought was really cute. “Truly this is the embodiment of Japanese beauty.” 

“What are you doing Kitagawa-senpai?” Kasumi asked. 

“Don’t worry about him. It’s just a weird fit he gets into sometimes.” Futaba shook her head. 

“Sooooo, since we all ran into each other here…. What should we do after this?” Ryuji asked, rolling his shoulder. “Maybe we should grab something to eat together?”

“Can’t do. I’ll be heading out with my family once we’re done here.” Makoto shook her head. “Even if I would like to stay I can’t. My dad would pitch a fit.” 

Akira felt a cold dread sneaking up on him at Makoto’s words. Her dad was alive? 

“Yes. I also have somewhere I’m expected to go with Madarame-sensei.” Yusuke spoke next and Akira managed to only look mildly worried at the notion that Yusuke was back with Madarame.

“I’ll be dining with my father somewhere so I won’t be able to join either.” Haru explained and while Akira was glad to hear her father was alive it was also worrying.

“Mom and me are going to hit up some New Years sales and land some sweet sweet games. Then I might swing by and say hi to Goro-nii while his mom is in town. I’d like to meet the fancy lady who raised such a cool big brother, you know?” Futaba winked at Akira and gave a thumbs up probably trying to indicate that she was going to be around later. Akira couldn’t focus on that. He had to instead focus on the fact that Wakaba was alive and what was more surprising was that she and Goro had some kind of positive sibling relationship.

“Welp. That’s put a damper on any spontaneous plans with you. I guess I’ll hit up the track team and see what they’re doing.” Ryuji adjusted his scarf closer to his neck. Since when did Ryuji and the track team get along again?

“I think that means I’ll be heading on out to see if Shiho is too busy with her boyfriend to make some time for me.” Ann tossed out and Akira felt his heart drop. She and Shiho weren’t dating here? What kind of fucked up world was this place? “Sounds like we got our own plans. Let’s say a prayer then get on going.” 

Akira suddenly felt like his prayer earlier was most certainly said in vain because things went from weird to completely insane. Akira was too caught in his own thoughts to notice when the others passed him by to leave after they were done with their prayers. 

“Looks like it’s just us.” Kasumi drew Akira’s attention out of his head to look at Kasumi. 

“Uh, yeah.” 

“I was wondering what you wished for at the shine earlier, Kurusu-senpai?” Kasumi asked and Akira went right into debating if he wanted to tell her or not. If he did he would have to explain everything that was wrong. If he didn’t then he could get more time to plan something. If there was anything for him to plan. 

“I wished for no more weird stuff to happen but it did anyway.” Akira decided to just tell the truth. 

“Huh? Weird?” Kasumi tilted her head to one side. 

“Yeah, very weird.” Morgana followed up just before Kasumi’s phone rang. 

“Oh. It’s my dad…” Kasumi tapped on her phone, “some relatives have come over to the house so he wants me home to spend some time with them.” Kasumi looked troubled before looking at Akira. “But you really look like you need someone to talk to.” 

“You should spend time with your family. I can wait.” Akira waved his hand.

“Are you sure?” Kasumi questioned before her phone pinged again. “Oh. He came all the way out to the station to come get me. Love having a family serious about their get-togethers.” she sighed then put her phone away. “I’m really sorry. We can at least go to the station together right?” 

“Sure thing.” Akira agreed then motioned for Kasumi to lead before he fell into step with her. 

As they made their way to the station Kasumi spotted her father waiting for her at the entrance. “Dad! Dad, this is Kurusu-senpai.”

“Ahh, the infamous Kurusu-senpai. She talks about you all the time. Thank you for accompanying my daughter to the shrine today.” Shinichi once he was closer to them. 

“Not all the time!” Kasumi flushed red. 

“No problem at all. It was nice to get out in the New Year air.” Akira smiled. 

“Well, it was nice meeting you. It’s time we got going.S̶̢̧̤̦͓͍͎͒̊ư̶̛̻̬̯̞̜̪͖̝̬̭̌̏̓̔̉̋̿̕͝m̵̢̢̥̫̲̻̠̞͑̆͗̑͒͝į̶̖̹͔͚͕͂̌̒̆̑͘͠r̴͇̻̺͙̊̆̎ĕ̵͓̹̫͈̼͑” Shinichi spoke and Akira had to shake his head at the sound that actually came out of his mouth. It wasn’t normal. People don’t talk like that. Something was very, very wrong.

“Huh?” Kasumi questioned. Had she heard it too? She might be Akira’s best bet for help figuring out what was happening here. 

“What’s wrong?” Shinichi asked. 

“Nothing!” Kasumi said quickly before she turned to Akira to bow. “Thank you for today senpai! I’ll message you later!” 

“You heard that right?” Morgana asked Akira once Kasumi and Shinichi were gone. 

“Yeah… that weird glitchy voice wasn’t normal.” Akira frowned before he took his phone out to look at it. He poked around the apps until he came to a white icon that looked like the Meta Nav but a little different. “Mona.” 

“I see it.” Morgana nodded. “Should we click on it?” 

“Not here. Let’s head to Leblanc first.” Akira pushed his glasses up then got on the first train heading home. 

Once Akira arrived however he found Leblanc was closed for the day and he did not have a key on him to get inside. It was a good thing he knew how to pick a lock. Akira, with Morgana’s oversight, easily bypassed the lock on Leblanc then headed inside, locking the door again behind him. Akira didn’t pause to check the cafe as he went upstairs, but as he cleared the last steps he was met with a distressing sight.

This was not his room. It was messier than it had been when Akira first arrived back in April. More boxes of crap covered the corner his bed was supposed to be in and every inch of the place was covered in cobwebs and dust. 

“This is bad. I don’t think you live here.” Morgana said as he jumped from Akira’s bag to the nearest surface. “Judging from the amount of dust I would guess that no one has been up here in ages.” Morgana hummed then moved to head back downstairs. “The whole place is dusty.” He announced jumping into a chair.

“So, wait, where is Boss?” Akira asked, looking around a little closer now. The fancy coffee making set was gone, the fridge was rusty and disused. All the jars that normally had coffee in them were empty, and there was a thick layer of dust on everything. 

“He might be at home?” Morgana guessed before Akira gathered him back into his bag. The two of them left the store quickly then went around the backstreets to find the Sakura house but it wasn’t ‘Sakura’ it was ‘Ishiki’ instead and out in the garden Akira could see Sojiro and Wakaba flirting. 

“Oh hey you, Happy New Year.” Sojiro greeted Akira once he looked up at him. “How goes settling into that fancy apartment?” 

“Uh, good.” Akira stared at Wakaba for a moment before snapping his attention back to Sojiro. “Happy New Year.” 

“You still take that cat of yours everywhere don’t you?” Wakaba teased. “See? I told you letting him keep it was a good idea.”

“Yeah well, that cat’s done a lot of good for you hasn’t it? Still can’t believe you two met because of a runaway cat before we could introduce you.” Sojiro took his glasses off to clean his lenses. “Welcome home Futaba.” 

“Aw!” Futaba groaned from a short distance away. “I was going to sneak up on him!” 

“Don’t go scaring your brother’s boyfriend.” Wakaba scolded kindly. “Are you just stopping by for a quick hi or did you forget something?” 

“Uh, just a hi.” Akira waved. “New Years, new hellos and all that.” 

“Just make sure you call your family too. I’m sure they’re missing you dearly.” Wakaba suggested before she and Futaba went inside.

“You sure you’re okay?” Sojiro asked, making Akira’s eyes snap up to him. “What? Don’t look so surprised I know when you’re troubled. I’ve been around the block a few times myself.” 

“I’m… I’m fine. Just trying to figure something out.” Akira shook his head. 

“Well, if you need to come home for a night your bed is still made up. I know moving in with a significant other is a huge step. Scared the hell out of me when I first did it.” Sojiro leaned on the gate to look up at his house. “There were times I wish I woulda bought that shop around the corner to get a break but I toughed it out and I think it was the right call. If I had to work that cafe I don’t know that we would have taken you in and without that cat who knows if you and Goro woulda met. It would have been a damn shame, you and Goro were made for each other.” 

“Daaaaaaaaaaaaad! We gotta get ready! We’ll miss all the good sales!” Futaba called from the house. 

“I’m comin!” Sojiro called. “See ya later kid. If you need help don’t hesitate to call.” Sojiro waved to him before going inside as well. 

“So in this world Boss never opened Leblanc.” Morgana hummed. “Are you filling in the gaps?” 

“A little. From what Goro’s mom said this morning I’m here for school reasons not a criminal record, and based on what Sojiro told me I ended up moving in with him here.” Akira took his phone out then began to walk away back toward the station. “Looks like Shido never moved up in politics. I can’t find his name anywhere in the news. Futaba’s mom is alive, Kobayakawa… resigned to follow his passion in cooking? So Goro never killed anyone…” 

“This is a really in depth dream world we’ve ended up in.” Morgana watched Akira’s phone as he picked through the news. 

“I gotta find out what is going on. If it’s… if it’s safe maybe we just leave it alone?” Akira chewed his bottom lip. “Goro’s happy, everyone else _seems_ happy.” 

“Maybe, but you heard them right? Yusuke’s with Madarame again then there’s the fact Ann and Shiho aren’t dating.” Morgana pointed out. “We should find out if everything is okay.” 

“Yeah.” Akira sighed as he lowered his phone and stared up at the sky. “I just get a bad feeling about this all.” 

“Me too.” Morgana rested his head on Akira’s shoulder. “Where should we go?” 

“Well, there’s going back to Goro’s--my apartment?” Akira paused as he had to fix that line of thought. 

“Are you ready to deal with his mom? She seems to want you guys to get married like… now.” Morgana asked almost teasingly. 

“Listen, I’m cool with marrying Goro, I will totes do that. Right now I need to fix this.” Akira motioned vaguely at the world.

“Oh good, because I keep sitting on this and it’s hurting my ass.” Morgana moved back into his bag to pull a box out with his mouth to pass to Akira. 

“Ohhh my fuck--what?!” Akira took the small box to look it over. This was very much an engagement ring box. When Akira opened it to look inside he only glanced at the gold band inside before snapping the box closed again. “OH GOD WHAT?!” 

“You’re attracting a bunch of attention!” Morgana hissed causing Akira to look around at everyone staring at him. Akira quickly shoved the box into his pants before he ducked his head and began to speed walk to the station. “I thought you were ‘cool with marrying Goro’ as you put it?” 

“ _Yeah_ but I don’t mean _now._ ” Akira hissed his thumb in his pocket rubbing over the velvety texture of the box. This was insane. This was someone’s fan fiction gone wild. Everyone was seemingly happy, Akira had a whole fucking ring for his boyfriend, and Shido was just gone. “We gotta figure this shit out.” 

“I’m right here with you. Just be careful okay?” Morgana settled back into Akira’s bag as they got onto the train.

_____________________________

_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _12:14pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : you end up hanging out with shiho?  
**Ann** : no…  
**Ann** : she’s spending some time with mishima.  
**Akira** : 😐  
**Ann** : pls don’t start again.  
**Akira** : i wasn’t starting anything.  
**Ann** : i know you and goro-kun are going strong but i’m not going to make things weird between shiho and me.  
**Ann** : i’m happy she’s happy.  
**Akira** : i didn’t say you weren’t happy.  
**Ann** : ok.  
**Akira** : ok.  
**Ann** : well…  
**Ann** : i’m going to go figure out something to do.  
**Ann** : bye  
**Akira** : ann.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ RYUJI SAKAMOTO _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _12:18pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : sup?  
**Akira** : i guess you’re busy huh?  
**Akira** : well, hit me up later.  
**Akira** : or something.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ YUSUKE KITAGAWA _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _12:20pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : how goes things?  
**Yusuke** : Things are going well!  
**Yusuke** : I wasn’t able to ask you with the crowd today if you managed to spring your surprise on Goro yet.  
**Akira** : surprise?  
**Yusuke** : I take that to mean no.  
**Akira** : you mean the ring?  
**Yusuke** : Yes.  
**Akira** : ah. no. uh. his mom is visiting and i want to make it really special.  
**Yusuke** : I thought you were going to slip it on his finger while he was sleeping before the new year?  
**Akira** : uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  
**Akira** : listen.  
**Akira** : i am a disaster. he got up before me this morning.  
**Akira** : we had a very… physical new years welcoming.  
**Yusuke** : Ah.  
**Akira** : I’m sorry.  
**Yusuke** : It’s alright. You’re still my important friend.  
**Akira** : Right. Can I ask something that might be weird?  
**Yusuke** : Sure.  
**Akira** : Have we EVER had sex?  
**Yusuke** : No?  
**Yusuke** : Akira are you and Goro alright?  
**Akira** : We’re fine. I just had a hyper realistic dream and needed to sort myself out.  
**Yusuke** : If you need to talk I’m here for you.  
**Akira** : I know. Thanks Yusuke.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ FUTABA ISHIKI _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _12:22pm: **Futaba** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Futaba** : i have located the perfect cat sweater for mona!  
**Akira** : he’s jittering with excitement.  
**Futaba** : i’ll be by around 2 to drop it off and say hi.  
**Futaba** : you guys better be there and be decent!  
**Akira** : i’m not going to be doing anything immoral with his mom in the apartment.  
**Futaba** : rip you and your proposal plans.  
**Akira** : HOWMANYPEOPLEKNOW?  
**Futaba** : iono like… everyone but the man himself?  
**Akira** : 😐  
**Futaba** : are you okay? you’re acting weird.  
**Akira** : what if i told you i was an alternate reality version of myself?  
**Futaba** : i’d say it’s not the weirdest thing you’ve told me.  
**Akira** : cool.  
**Futaba** : you didn’t answer if you’re okay.  
**Akira** : i’m swell.  
**Akira** : i’m on the train heading home.  
**Akira** : here’s another question following along with the idea that i’m a different version of me.  
**Akira** : we did the whole phantom thief thing right?  
**Futaba** : yeah?  
**Akira** : who did we deal with?  
**Futaba** : uh…. big ones were kamoshida and kaneshiro, then we took care of some smaller ones.  
**Akira** : so no madarame or shido?  
**Futaba** : …  
**Akira** : what?  
**Futaba** : now i’m worried and starting to kind of take you seriously.  
**Akira** : probably not the best idea.  
**Akira** : ignore me. hyper realistic dream thing. see you alter.  
**Akira** : later*  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

“You think she’s going to ask Goro about it?” Morgana questioned as their train came to their stop. 

“I don’t know. I hope not?” Akira sighed as he put his phone away. He had only just stepped off of the train when his phone rang with a call. “I should ignore it.” Akira told himself more than Morgana as he looked at the screen. “Yoshizawa?” He wondered out loud before pressing the phone to his ear to answer. “Hey.” 

“Senpai! I needed to get away from my family for a minute and I ended up in Odaiba, and, uh--” Kasumi spoke, clearly panicked even through the phone.

“What’s going on?” Akira asked, waiting where he was. He had a feeling he was going to need to get back on the train.

“Um, I don’t really know what I’m looking at but I’m going to try and describe it to you the best I can.” Kasumi said and Akira could hear her moving around. “It’s a building but I can make out the fuzzy outline of that ‘palace’ we went to back in October? I know this is sudden but can you come to Odaiba right now?” 

“I’m just waiting for a train to pull up.” Akira confirmed. “Don’t do anything reckless until I get there. Leave the dumbassery to me.” Akira’s words managed to get a chuckle out of Kasumi before they hung up and Akira turned to take the next train out to make his way to Odaiba.

“The palace she’s talking about is the one you accidentally went into back in October when we were in Okumura’s place right?” Morgana asked.

“Yeah. I think we might be getting our answers soon Mona.” Akira took his phone back out to text Goro. 

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _1:12pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : something came up so i’ll be a little later getting home.  
**Goro** : My mother didn’t freak you out or anything with her marriage talk did she?  
**Goro** : She’s just projecting since she never got married.  
**Akira** : no. it’s something else. i’ll explain it to you later.  
**Akira** : enjoy your time with your mom.  
**Goro** : Are you sure you don’t need me to come with you?  
**Akira** : nah. i got this.  
**Akira** : i love you.  
**Akira** : 🖤  
**Goro** : 🤍  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

It wasn’t hard to find Kasumi standing around in her bright red coat. He called to her as he approached before looking over to the fuzzy outline of what was absolutely the palace from before. At least Kasumi hadn’t lost her mind so this was a good start.

“Thanks for coming senpai.” Kasumi smiled. “Hello Mona-senpai.” 

“Hey Yoshizawa.” Morgana greeted before his eyes locked on the palace before them. “What is that?” 

“I don’t know. I was under the impression that palaces didn’t appear outside of the Metaverse.” Kasumi hugged herself trying to contain a shiver. “What could be the meaning behind its appearance here?” 

“I don’t see anyone else making any acknowledgement about it.” Akira looked back to watch as a couple walked by laughing. “I’m going to take a hard guess that others can’t see it.” 

“Or they can and they just don’t care.” Morgana suggested. 

“That’s more what happened when I asked some people about it. They didn’t seem to care at all about its appearance.” Kasumi explained.

“That’s troubling.” Akira tapped his chin. “Let’s try heading inside and see what we can find. That’s if you’re game for it?” 

“Of course I’ll go in with you!” Kasumi pumped her fists. “I made a promise to you that I’d help you no matter what.” 

“Great.” Akira pulled his phone out to look at the new Meta-Nav. “Maybe we can get some answers to all the weird stuff going on around here.” 

“Weird stuff?” Kasumi questioned which made Akira pause. 

“I could explain it all to you right now, but it’s cold out here and I’m also wondering what’s up with this palace first. I think the important question to figure out if you’re still all you is to ask, do I have a criminal record?” 

“Huh?” Kasumi looked confused and Akira felt bad right away. Maybe she was also lost like the rest. “I mean, yes, but it’s a false one yes?” 

“Well I think that settles it. Yoshizawa is still herself.” Morgana announced. “Check for a Meta-Nav then check the search history.”

“Meta-Nav,” Kasumi repeated as she took her phone out to look, “I have it right here. How do I… Got it. There’s one search in here but…” 

Akira moved closer to inspect her phone to check for the keywords but as he looked the name was a jumbled bunch of letters. The name literally was illegible no matter how Akira tried to look at it. “Weird. I guess we’ll have to just go inside to find out whose palace this is. You ready?” 

“Yes senpai!” Kasumi hit the button on the Nav to take them inside. The effect of the transfer from the real world to the Metaverse was different. It wasn’t the demented red and black he was used to. This was wavey and rainbowy and bright. It was down right almost cheerful and it made Akira worry all the more. “Now that I’m getting another look here this place really is mysterious looking.” 

“It’s more built than when we first saw it, that's for sure.” Akira noted the lack of loose cables and that the walls were all closed properly. 

“We should be on our guard.” Morgana spoke and Akira looked down to see he was once again in his Metaverse form. “It’s hard to make out what the ruler thinks of his place as we should be ready for anything once we get inside.” 

“Right.” Akira agreed. “I kinda hope this answers some questions.” 

Entering the building yielded an entirely different feeling from the first time Akira and Kasumi had been inside. It was a fully realized palace now with people cognitions and no exposed wires. There was a moment of worry in Akira as they made their way up the steps but once they reached the top he could see that the locked door from before was still unlocked from his and Kasumi’s previous escape.

“This place feels very different from last time.” Kasumi noted looking at the people.

“It was a few months ago right? That means there was plenty of time for the ruler to fully realize their desires and form their palace into this.” Morgana explained as he walked up to one of the displays to look. “This looks like it’s on cognitive research though. Weird.”

“Let’s keep moving for now.” Akira motioned to be followed as he walked toward the door. On the other side they found even more people in the next room but it was no longer just some kind of empty space, there were seats and a reception desk with a large heart over the top of the desk displaying a heart that kept shifting on a meter. The wires in this room weren’t as cleaned up as the last but they were wrapped around absolutely enormous cameras. 

“Welcome, and thank you for coming!” A voice spoke over the intercom. “You will be guided to one of our specialty care facilities according to your individual desires. We will assist each and everyone one of you. Everyone has the right to become happy! Should you have any questions please feel free to bring them to our staff nearby.” 

“What a weird announcement. ‘Become happy?’ What kind of place is this?” Kasumi asked following Akira toward the reception desk. 

“I’m not sure.” Akira answered. “It’s got a bit of a hospital vibe.” Akira paused to look at the cognitive people. They were all normal in appearance so that was good. This palace ruler wasn’t so distorted that they didn’t see people as people. “Let’s try for that door in the back.” Akira pointed then started to job toward it. 

Before they could reach the door properly a shadow cropped up in a lab coat claiming that they were not among the ones who ‘desire salvation’ or whatever. When Akira asked that they be taken to the ruler the shadow rebuffed him and told them to leave. The shadow was making one thing clear, though this ruler saw people normally they did put themselves in some kind of a god complex. 

Once they beat the shadow Akira adjusted his gloves and sighed. “I swear if we’re coming up on another god or something I’m hoping the first flight off of this planet.” 

“Hmm. That shadow said something about research, and also something about pain.” Kasumi brought her thumb to her lip as if she were going to chew on her nail but there was a glove in the way. 

“It said something about salvation as well.” Morgana noted. “I think we can assume that this palace ruler isn’t all there.” Morgana picked up a map to hand to Akira. “Let’s keep looking around. I’m hoping we can at least catch sight of the ruler to figure out who it is.” 

Akira agreed with Morgana and then they set off once more. After making their way a bit deeper into the lab with little problems they found a strange video of Kasumi’s dad crying over a covered body. This must have been when Kasumi’s sister died last April. 

“Sumire.” Kasumi said a name before looking at the floor. “He was talking to my younger sister Sumire. I did mention to you that I lost her before right?” Kasumi turned to Akira. 

“Yeah, but this is the first I’ve heard her name.” Akira nodded. 

“Okay,” Kasumi sighed as her eyes turned back toward the video, “I just don’t understand why this video--” Suddenly Kasumi let out a sound of pain before holding her head and doubling over. 

“Yoshizawa?” Akira touched her shoulder to help her stand upright again. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m sorry.” Kasumi dismissed his hand. “I don’t know what’s been wrong with me lately. I’ve been getting this feeling, like… like I need to remember something, but then when I try to remember I get another like I shouldn’t. I got the feeling very strongly with my family earlier after we parted ways and I couldn’t stand it. I had to run away and that’s when I found the palace.” 

“Should we pull back for the day?” Morgana asked. 

“No I’m okay!” Kasumi adjusted her bangs. “We won’t get any answers if we don’t go in deeper right? Let’s go.” Kasumi insisted before she turned away from Akira and Morgana to walk toward the next area. 

“You think she’s pushing herself?” Morgana questioned Akira. 

“She might be but I think she’s more worried than anything else. I can’t blame her.” Akira looked up to the monitor that had started to loop the exchange with her father. “I would be worried too if that was a video of someone I cared about.”

Akira followed Kasumi after a few halls that were completely empty; the trio came to yet another large room that made Kasumi cringe in pain. “Yoshizawa, I know you’re pushing yourself. We can come back tomorrow.” Akira tried to turn Kasumi away. 

“No. Not yet.” Kasumi shook her head and pushed his hands away. “I just can’t stop thinking about that video… I’ll be okay. Let’s keep going. I _must_ find out why that video was on that monitor.” 

“Okay but if the pain becomes too much we should stop.” Morgana said before they continued on again. Another shadow appeared to try stopping them. Calling them misguided and requesting that they stop searching for pain. Akira was going to brush it off entirely as the ruler getting haughty when the shadow said something about tragedy waiting beyond this point. Kasumi expressed irritation as the shadow refused to answer her. “Sounds to me like we’ll find some answers past here.” Morgana drew his blade. 

“Right. We’ll get our answers on our own if you won’t give them to us!” Kasumi drew her blade.

“I have to agree.” Akira touched his mask to summon Raoul as the shadow began to fight them. Before Akira could actually get a shot off Kasumi rushed forward to start the fight first, calling on her persona to cast bless attacks which missed entirely. “Yoshizawa calm down!” Akira called but she wasn’t listening. She rushed in to attack with her sword which was completely ineffective then tried to shoot one resulting in nothing. 

“Don’t rush things!” Morgana called as he ran forward to cast a wind spell. 

“I’m sorry!” Kasumi flinched before Akira sent Raoul in to stamp out the shadows with a strong curse attack to bring the creatures down. 

“Are you alright?” Akira turned to Kasumi just before the sound of a crowd cheering came from behind them. “What is that?” The three of them stopped to listen as the voice of some announcer or interviewer of some kind began to talk about a ‘new heroine to the world of competitive gymnastics’ or something. 

Kasumi ignored Akira’s question as she moved back over to look across the floor as a girl who looked very much like her said she was thrilled with her results. Something wasn’t right and as Akira looked at that girl he got a sinking suspicion as to why. 

The interviewer continued to talk with the girl ending with asking if the girl wanted to give a shoutout to anyone in the audience. “Oh yes! My younger sister! She should be here in the stadium.” The girl began to look around before spotting Kasumi. “Oh there she is! Sumire!” Akira suddenly felt cold and could only imagine that this was a fraction of what Kasumi-- no --Yoshizawa was feeling in that moment. Akira couldn’t rightly keep using a name he wasn’t certain of in the current situation, but he could accept one thing, the red headed girl with him was a twin just as he was. The loss of a twin was just different than other siblings. A twin was literally someone a person was born with. If he’d lost Ren… “Sumire! I did it!” The girl called as she waved at Yoshizawa excitedly snapping Akira out of his thoughts. The girl continued to talk with the interviewer while Yoshizawa begged for her to stop and began to hold her head again.

“Yoshi--” Akira reached a hand out toward her but she snapped. 

“Stop it!” Yoshizawa begged before curling up to hold her head again. 

Akira reached for her again to try and comfort her somehow but before his hand could connect a familiar voice spoke, sending an even stronger chill down Akira’s spine. “I really hope this helped you understand.” The familiar voice spoke. “If you keep pushing like this, you’re only going to find heartache. Please. Stop now and just go back to your current reality.”

“Why you… of all people…?” Akira muttered balling his fists tightly as he looked around for the source of the voice. 

“Nothing but heartache, huh?” Yoshizawa spoke evenly. It seemed like the pain in her head had dulled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you can be damn sure I have no intention of leaving now!” She snapped up to her feet angrier than Akira had ever seen her. 

“If Yoshizawa is good to keep going then so am I! You better show yourself already! Hiding won’t stop us you know?!” Morgana agreed. 

“...as you wish. Please come down. I’ll meet you there.” The man’s voice said before Kasumi turned to follow the path that would lead them into the staging area.

“Let’s go!” 

“Y-yeah.” Akira was only able to give a half hearted agreement. He knew that voice all too well. It had helped him through his hanahaki, his feelings for Goro, and even the trauma of his arrest in November. He didn’t want this to be true. He didn’t want to face this, but Akira needed to know, why him?

As they entered the staging area Akira could not will himself to actually move any faster at the sight of the man in white as his normal palace job turned into a slow walk. “Looks like we reached you.” Morgana questioned once they got close enough, prompting the man to turn around and all of Akira’s concerns came crashing on top of him. 

“It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it?” Maruki greeted them with a smile. The only comfort Akira had from looking at Maruki’s face was that he looked kind of dumb with his hair pushed back like that but it was just a bandaid on a bullet wound. “Glad to see you’re all doing well.” 

“Maruki-sensei?!” Yoshizawa gasped. 

“I figured it would be you infiltrating this place.” Maruki looked to the ground in disappointment. “Honestly, this isn’t how I wanted to meet again.” Akira stared at Maruki trying to find the words to express his disappointment but what would he get from it? Maruki was here but it was his shadow right? Akira wanted to yell at the real man. 

“You’re the ruler of this palace huh?” Morgana questioned. 

“Palace?” Maruki repeated the word. 

“This place is a palace,” Akira finally found his voice, “a place where distorted desires come to life. I guess Maruki himself didn’t figure it all out. Then again I didn’t share the lingo with him.” Akira rubbed a hand down his face. 

“Ahh, I get it. In those terms then I am indeed this palace’s ruler.” Maruki confirmed looking at each of them before resting his eyes on Akira. “I do seem to be a little different than what you’ve seen of them before though.” What the hell did that mean? “Tell me, do you like the reality I created for you?” 

“W-wait,” Morgana waved a paw, “you… **created** it?” 

“I did.” Maruki put a hand into his pocket looking completely relaxed. This shadow was really setting the pace for being the most lax one so far. “I gained the power to alter our world to make it whatever the people wish it to be.” 

“Last time someone was claiming that, it was an ill adjusted evil god trying to force people to let go of their sense of control.” Akira spoke then clenched his jaw tightly. 

“Is that so?” Maruki hummed. “Do you hate it here though?” 

“It’s not right!” Morgana shouted. “People should decide their lives for themselves!” 

“Is that how you really feel?” Maruki was looking right at Akira. “The old reality was cruel and unforgiving. It put you in one dire situation after another and you prefer it?” Maruki’s eyes turned to Yoshizawa next. “Yoshizawa-san also suffers in that world. It happens every time she tries to tap into her forgotten past.”

“My...past?” Yoshizawa repeated the phrase, drawing her arms up close to her chest. “W-what do you mean?! What did you do to me?!” 

Maruki’s expression turned bitter sweet as he let a sigh pass through his nose, “All right. I had truly hoped that all the warnings before would change your minds, but if this is what you really desire then I want you to know who you really are. Kurusu-kun you should watch closely. Once you see this you’ll have to choose between the two realities: the painful one, or the one I’ve formed.” With an expert snap of his fingers the lights in the area turned off and a monitor above them lit up bright.

“Careful.” Morgana warned but Akira didn’t think they needed to be on guard here. Not with Maruki. 

On the screen a video began to play from a first person perspective and in an instant Akira knew who the person was. His eyes traveled from the screen to Yoshizawa as she watched with rapt attention. Akira looked from Yoshizawa to Maruki to find that he was being watched back. With a slow motion Maruki pressed a finger to his lips then pointed back up to the screen with a knowing smile. 

Akira hated this. He didn’t want to see what was going just to prove to him the thing he’d already figured out. Kasumi Yoshizawa was already dead and the girl he’d been going to school with the last year was her sister, Sumire. 

“We’ll reach the top of the world together,” Kasumi on screen said firmly, “that’s our dream, right?”

“You don’t get it.” Sumire said as the camera shifted to show her now. Her red hair was down instead of in the ponytail she often wore and Akira could see glasses. “You’ll never understand how I feel.” 

The camera went back into first person as she started to run. The road was familiar to Akira, it wasn’t one he walked often but he remembered it from April. He had been in that intersection with Sojiro when it happened. Memories flashed of Kasumi’s wins and, from Sumire’s perspective, how everyone wanted Kasumi rather than her. Kasumi called for her sister to stop but she wouldn’t listen then it happened. A long horn before a deafening thud and a scream. The scream Akira remembered hearing before realizing that someone had been hit. The video shifted to show Kasumi bleeding out on the road and Sumire watching in horror as the facts sunk in. 

Kasumi was dead and it was her fault. 

As the video faded out, the Sumire in front of Akira suddenly shifted out of her Metaverse clothes. The force of the shift dislodged the bow holding her hair up causing her hair to fall out into place over her shoulders just as the Sumire in the video had worn it. She was crying but how could Akira even begin to comfort her? He still had a living twin and literally couldn’t imagine a life with Ren dead.

“Yoshizawa…” Morgana said softly.

“I…” Sumire shuddered, “that’s right. I’m… Sumire… Last spring before we were meant to start at Shujin we were on our way home after practice. It happened just like you saw it in the video.” Sumire started to sob harder now. “She pushed me out of the way of the car. She saved me. I robbed her of her dreams _and_ her life!” 

“Yoshizawa no--” Akira reached to touch her shoulder as she fell on her knees.

“I’ll take over from here.” Maruki interjected so Sumire wouldn’t have to continue. “I mean, I play a very crucial role in the next part of this story.” Maruki began from the top. Talking about how Kasumi’s death had strongly affected Sumire to the point where Sumire saw herself as her sister. People around her knew that Sumire was still just herself but in her head she was Kasumi. “As I understand it though, you knew her as Kasumi didn’t you?” The question was directed at Akira.

“I…” Akira looked up, “I saw her student ID. I thought maybe she’d done something with her hair so…” He had a twin he knew how things went. There was a short time where he and Ren had changed their hair or clothes up just so they could be cold apart. 

“That would explain it.” Maruki touched his chin. 

Sumire began to explain when she had started to see Maruki. The important information Akira took from it was that Sumire had wanted to become her sister over the extreme guilt she had for causing her death. Akira felt for her but there were a few things bothering him. First, how did Maruki get her to believe she was Kasumi so strongly? Second, why would Sumire not just wish for her sister to return in his new reality? If the situation were flipped that’s what Akira would have done.

“You played around with her cognition to grant her desire? How?” Morgana asked. 

“That’s right.” Maruki confirmed. “I didn’t have much power at first, but it was enough at the time to actualize her wish. If you put yourself in her shoes would you not wish to forget something so painful? Imagine your brother dying to save you and you have to carry the knowledge that it was your fault it happened.” Maruki stared at Akira, knowing how he probably felt about all this.

Akira couldn’t help but picture it after Maruki said the words. Damn him. That was not an image Akira ever wanted in his head nor ever wanted to see in real life. Though if Maruki was trying to get Akira to feel empathetic about the situation he wasn’t. If anything picturing his brother dead trying to save him pissed him off. He wanted to punch Maruki now. “Shut up! That doesn’t give you the right to force people to cope with that guilt in whatever way _you_ see fit!” Akira snapped. “People were made to suffer! It sucks and it hurts like hell but we grow from it and get stronger!” 

“Maybe but not everyone can. For Sumire-san the survivor’s guilt was so emotionally destroying that she could barely cope. So I thought if she could live a positive and fulfilling life as Kasumi-san then why not try?” Maruki tried to reason with Akira but there was no reasoning with something like this. Maruki was just forcing his ideals on Sumire as well as everyone else. 

“Is that why you changed everyone else’s past?!” Akira questioned. “Did you give people back their dead parents and past dreams just so they’d be placid in this world you’ve created?” 

“So that’s how you see things huh?” Maruki looked disappointed. “I can’t force you to accept this world but I was hoping that you would. I wanted this world to be one where you could be happy and not worry about anything else ever again. I even gave you the tools you’d need to truly be happy.” Akira’s eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out what Maruki meant before he came to the conclusion that he probably meant the ring. 

“I didn’t ask for this. No one did!” Akira was mad. How could Maruki do this? He was supposed to be one of the good adults. He was Akira’s friend, his confidant, and he would betray him by doing this? It took everything Akira had in his being not to actually start crying right now. His eyes were hot with tears but he refused to let them out. Not here.

“You may not like it now but my goal is to remove all suffering from the world!” Maruki explained. “My work will convert the wishes of the people into reality. Even as we speak my research is coming to fruition, and with it, no one will ever suffer again. Not under my care.”

“I don’t know who gave you the right to think of yourself like some kinda god but we’ve been through this before!” Morgana shouted. “What about the people whose desires don’t fit in your little utopia? Then what?” 

“That’s why I can’t say my work is complete yet, but I am close to an answer for them.” Maruki looked serious. “This palace is a place where the ruler’s desires take a physical form, right? I only wished to use my research to save humanity. If that’s a warped desire then so be it.”

“This is bullshit Maruki!” Akira stood up to point at him. “You can’t make this world perfect for everyone. There’s always going to be people upset or hurt and you can’t stop that unless you change everything about them! I’ve already seen your perfect reality fail someone important to me!” At Akira’s words Maruki looked confused and surprised. He had no idea who he let slip through the cracks of his happy little world.

“You may be right. I’m still going to try though. It won’t be easy work but if I can craft a reality without suffering I can save people. Much like Sumire-san.” Maruki looked at her still sitting on her knees crying. “It’s not just my desire to do this. It’s my _responsibility_. I’ve been granted this power and I must use it for the good of the world.” 

“Oh _fuck_ **off**!” Akira rolled his eyes. “You know who you sound like? Shido. He was boasting the same shit about how he used Goro because it was his God given right to do so. Just because you’ve been given an incredible power doesn’t mean you just get to decide that it’s what’s best for everyone. You’re not any different than any of the previous palace rulers. I fucking _trusted_ you!” 

“I know you’re upset but please try to calm down.” Maruki tried to calm Akira with a soothing hand motion but his words only fueled Akira’s anger more. He wanted to kick his ass. Akira wanted to put Maruki’s face into the ground with enough force to break his nose. “Yoshizawa-san, let me ask you once more, which reality would you wish to live in?” 

“I… have a choice?” Sumire looked up from her hands to Maruki. 

“Yoshizawa don’t listen to him!” Morgana warned her. 

“If you want I will return you to your life as Sumire, but if you rather I can grant you the release of becoming Kasumi once again. You don’t have to suffer.” Maruki explained and Akira clenched his teeth. His phrasing was just gaslighting and he fucking knew it. 

“Believe in _yourself_.” Akira told her. “You don’t have to be Kasumi to be amazing. I know it. Even if your cognition was warped you’re still you! I’ve been there with you!” 

“Senpai… no. It’s impossible.” Sumire got up to her feet. “I’m so sorry, Kurusu-senpai. I just can’t go back to being her. I can’t bear to live as the one who led her sister to her death!” 

Akira’s hand moved to try taking Sumire’s to try grounding her but Maruki spoke once again making him freeze. “Please don’t judge her for this. It’s just proof of how much pain she’s in. I know you figured out that there was something wrong with the reality I made for you, but please remember that you aren’t being excluded. I wanted to give you what you wanted the most but you were very resistant to ever telling me what it was. You Insisted on being happy with your life as it was despite all your pain. So I tried to grant you something that might make up for everything. If you call your family they’ll be happy to hear from you, you know? I made sure out of everyone that I made sure they were still proud of you. Ren-kun misses you but he couldn’t be more proud of you. So please, Kurusu-kun, won’t you accept my reality for your own happiness?” 

“I didn’t ask you to mess with my family. I can deal with that on my own! Get your hands out of my family affairs!” Akira shouted again. 

“You say that but I think you just haven’t had time to really see what it is I’ve done for everyone around you.” Maruki shook his head before the lights turned back on blinding the three of them for a moment. As Akira’s eyes tried to adjust to the light, the shadow next to Maruki stepped forward to do something. He couldn’t see what but he assumed it was to fight. 

He reached for his mask before a black tentacle darted forward to wrap around Sumire and pull her toward Maruki. The tentacle slowly put Sumire into his arms as Morgana questioned what it was that Maruki was going to do with her. 

“I have no plans to hurt her. I only ask that you two turn back now. For her sake.” Maruki answered. “You’ve made it clear you reject the reality she wishes to live in.” 

“It’s not reality!” Akira shouted. “It’s your fucked up fantasy where you’re a god!” 

“It saddens me to hear you say it like that.” Maruki sighed. “All you’re doing is invalidating her wish.” 

“You’re just gaslighting! I’m not falling for your bait!” Akira snapped, drawing his weapon. “Let her go!” 

“I’m sorry you’ve misunderstood me. This isn’t just for her. It’s for you as well.” Maruki promised. “I really do want to come to terms with you. I want to talk civilly. You have dreams don’t you? I have the power to make them come true! I want you to go out in this world I’ve made for **you** and experience it.” 

“I don’t want to experience it!” Akira yelled. “I want things back to how they should be! I never asked to be rewarded like this. Let Yoshizawa go and fight me you fuck!” 

“I’m… not good at fighting.” Maruki nodded to the shadow next to him before it walked forward and began to move in, frankly, a creepy manner. It’s neck bobbed from side to side as it’s limbs contorted painfully. “If you wish to fight then I will have to meet your force the best I can.” Maruki said as the shadow fell to the ground in a pool of oil, then came back up as some kind of tentacle shadow. The power radiating off of it was immense, almost as if someone had awoken to their person. 

“Mona!” Akira called for Morgana to be ready for a fight before it began. The shadow was strong and had a skill for putting fear into them. When they thought they had the shadow dead it actually healed itself then hit them with something that completely knocked both of them off of their feet. Morgana made a loud thump when he was thrown back into a wall then slid down to hit the ground, unconscious. Akira managed to keep on his feet through the force of the attack but once the wind died out he fell painfully to his knees.

“Maybe now you’ll listen,” Maruki spoke now that Akira couldn’t even lift his arms, “I won’t hurt you anymore. Instead, I want you to go out from this place and see for yourself how your friends are enjoying their lives.” 

“Let her go.” Akira struggled to speak as the pain throbbing all over his body was about to make him black out. 

“I can’t do that. She wants to be in the world where she is Kasumi.” Maruki shook his head. “Forget about her for a minute and worry instead about yourself. Do you really wish to return to a world where hanahaki took your lover’s mother? Where your parents don’t want you?” 

“Don’t bring Goro into this.” Akira touched the ground with a fist to keep himself upright. 

“I’m sorry, but please do this. After you’ve seen it, we’ll talk again.” Maruki offered Akira a sad smile before there was a flash of light and Akira felt a sudden shift in his body. “Come back again a week from today.” Maruki’s voice spoke as Akira felt as if he were falling. “January 9th. I’ll hear what you have decided at that time. I only pray that you change your mind by then.” 

Maruki’s voice was the last thing Akira heard when the white light faded into black as he passed out. By the time he came to it had grown dark outside and he was face down on the sidewalk outside Maruki’s palace. He pushed himself to sit up with a groan and leaned against the wall to the palace behind him.

He leaned his head back against the gate to stare at the sky for a few minutes before he heard a voice. “Akira?” Morgana questioned. 

“Hey Mona.” Akira gave his friend a careful pet. Morgana had been knocked out for nearly as long as Akira had been. “Are you feeling okay?” 

“Sore all over. Where is Yoshizawa?” Morgana looked around.

“Maruki’s got her.” Akira answered as he watched Morgana stand on his own four wobbly paws. Akira took his phone out to check the time but as he tried to unlock his phone he found that the battery had died. “Shit. Can’t go back in for a heal.” Akira groaned as he pushed himself up to his feet. “We gotta head home.” 

“Can you actually make it?” Morgana looked up at Akira who was shaking about as bad as Morgana was. Akira didn’t have much of a choice. Leblanc wasn’t a place he could go to and he wasn’t even sure if he was familiar with Takemi in this world. 

Akira reached up to rub his face with a sigh before he hissed and touched more carefully. He felt around for injuries and was pretty sure he looked like someone had taken a bat to his face. He might have had a concussion, he certainly had a headache. it was questionable if Akira was really going to be able to even walk to the station, much less carry a fair sized cat with him. “Should I walk?” Morgana asked.

“I have to hold you on the train anyway.” Akira lowered his bag to have Morgana climb inside. “You think Goro’s going to be pissed?” 

“I don’t know. Normally I’d say yes but this world is weird. He might let you get away with being gone all day.” Morgana said as he rested heavily against Akira’s shoulder. He’d volunteered to walk but Akira knew that Morgana was in worse condition than he was. Akira appreciated the attempt but it was better for him to carry Morgana.

Once they got on the train Akira collapsed into the nearest seat he could find and stared blankly out the window across from him. He couldn’t very well process the scene outside and only had half a mind to listen for his stop. Maruki’s voice echoed through his head begging him to see the world he had made and experience it. 

Akira’s hand fell to his lap where his palm rubbed against the box still in his pocket. He moved slightly to pull the box out and inspect it now that he had the time and motivation. The velvety box was a deep red color, and when Akira opened to look inside the ring was probably too perfectly matched for Goro. The ring was the same kind of gold often found on his thief attire. The design of it took the form of a pair of wings that would wrap around the finger to meet in the middle around a circle of small white and black diamonds surrounding a larger ruby.

“That’s a pretty fancy ring.” Morgana noted. “Maruki put that in your bag right?” 

“Yeah. It’s stupid how perfect it is for Goro. I kind of hate it.” Akira snapped the box closed then put it back in his pocket. “I’m never going to be able to find something like this in real life for him.” 

“Well, you’ve got plenty of money from our Mementos travels right? You sure ran by face into enough shadows for it…” Morgana spoke flatly, “I’m sure you can commission it or something.” 

“Maybe.” Akira frowned. “I’d rather pick something on my own. Even if this is perfect… I think the most disappointing thing out of all of this shit is that I really trusted Maruki. I had so many good confidants that were adults that I forgot for a minute that they can really turn into monsters if given the chance…”

“It’s unfortunate.” Morgana agreed. “I don’t want to say Maruki’s a monster, but I know why you’re upset. He wasn’t just a confidant. He was your therapist too.”

“He talked to everyone at some point.” Akira thought about his dream where he’d heard the desires of his friends. “I guess that’s how he knew the best way to trap them in this world.”

“We’ll free them.” Morgana settled back down. “It won’t be easy but we’ll save them all.”

____________________________________

Akira made his way back to the apartment and stood outside the door struggling to get the key into it so he could go inside. Before he could actually get the key to go in the hole the door was ripped open by a very angry Goro. Akira still didn’t know what time it was but the lights were off in the apartment so Akira had to assume that it was _late_. 

“ _Where the **fuck** have you been?!”_ Goro hissed before he seemed to actually realize Akira was wounded. “What did you **do**?!” Goro’s hands hovered over Akira’s face as if he wanted to touch him but was scared he’d hurt him.

“Hey.” Akira greeted her with a weak smile. 

“I--” Goro stared at Akira’s face before pulling away to rub his forehead, muttering something Akira could barely catch. “-- _like before. What does that mean just like before? Why am I thinking_ \--?” 

“Goro?” Akira reached for him before the sound of a door opening somewhere else in the apartment drew his attention. 

Goro turned around quickly to pull Akira by the hand to the washroom to lock them inside. Once they were inside Akira could hear steps approaching before there was a knock. “Goro hun, are you okay?” 

“Yeah. Akira called. He’ll be home soon.” Goro lied, gripping the doorknob tightly. “I’m going to take a bath so go ahead to bed or something.” 

“Alright, I’m going to watch the news a bit.” Chiyoko said then left the door. Goro stared at a spot on the wall until he could hear the TV. 

Once he felt sure they wouldn’t be heard Goro turned away from the door to say, “take off your clothes.” Goro ordered as he pulled down the first aid kit, "She’ll be upset if she sees you like this.” 

“Why?” Akira asked as he did what he was told. He first set Morgana on the ground then began to carefully peel his shirt off of his body. 

“I... because you’re hurt? What a stupid question.” Goro paused as he tried to figure out what Akira gained from asking such a thing. To Akira it seemed more like Goro was upset about it and he felt the need to make an excuse. “What happened to you?” Goro decided he was going to change the topic.

Akira’s heart sank as he knew exactly what he needed to press on to draw Goro out of his fantasy. He didn’t know what it would do to Goro’s mother exactly but he knew what it would do to Goro. Akira hadn’t moved onto taking his pants off yet as he thought of the best question to go with that might spur Goro out. He didn’t want to just dump info on him. He needed to draw Goro out carefully. If he didn’t accept that this reality was wrong he probably wouldn’t take well to getting dragged out, and Akira didn’t want to ruin his relationship with Goro if he was indeed trapped in this world.

“Where’s your mom live?” Morgana asked suddenly. He seemed to be thinking the same as Akira but already figured out what to press to get Goro free.

“What?” Goro looked up from his task of looking for antiseptic in the first aid kit to stare at Morgana sitting on the rim of the tub. “Why are you asking such a ridiculous question?” 

“You’re not answering.” Akira pressed.

“You haven’t answered **mine**!” Goro shot back at Akira in a low hiss trying to keep his voice down.

“Just entertain us. Please?” Akira gave Goro his best puppy eyes. 

“You’re both horrible.” Goro dismissed as he dug out the gauze and the antiseptic then stopped. He was in deep thought as he tried to figure out an answer to Morgana’s question. “She lives…” Goro blinked before looking at Akira. “She…”

Akira wanted to encourage him but from the look on Goro’s face he was starting to get there. After a minute Goro dropped the kit on the ground and stepped away looking alarmed. “Goro?” Akira reached for his hand only for it to get slapped away. 

“What’s happening?” Goro put a hand over his mouth. “She’s here but she...she shouldn’t be.” Goro began to struggle to breathe, his gasps coming out short and fast. Then suddenly the TV outside the bathroom silenced and Goro stared at the door holding his breath.

Akira watched between Goro and the door for a minute before Goro ripped the door to rush out to the living room. Akira followed after as quickly as he could hobble to see that the TV was off and there was no one there. Goro stared at the couch for a few seconds before he rushed away to check the guest room. 

Akira waited for Goro to come back with a dark expression on his face. “Is she gone?” Akira felt his heart sink. He didn’t want to force her to vanish. He just wanted to draw Goro out of the fantasy. This was going to make it very hard to do that to everyone. It was going to hurt everyone, a lot.

“What happened?” Goro asked, his fists balled tightly at his sides. Goro didn’t want to be comforted right now. Akira was sure that if he tried to touch him right now Goro would add to his injuries.

“Maruki’s got some kind of palace that’s granting people’s deepest desires.” Akira answered, taking a careful step toward Goro. “Everyone’s in the same kind of warped reality. Dead loved ones alive and all that.” 

“Maruki…” Goro didn’t react when Akira touched his hand which was better than he expected, but Goro was shaking with what Akira assumed was rage.

“I’m sorry we did this to you.” Akira twisted his fingers into Goro’s hand to hold it. The grip was painful but Goro didn’t shove him away. “I’m sorry we had to drag you out.”

“Maruki’s forcing his desires on everyone,” Morgana said from the floor between them, “it’s just like the evil god. Even if he believes he’s doing the right thing.”

“I’m glad you pulled me out.” Goro unteased as he shifted closer to Akira to put his face in Akira’s chest carefully. “I can’t believe I fell for it.” 

“He dug out what you wanted the most and gave it to you.” Akira wrapped one arm around Goro’s middle and his other hand to the back of his head. “I know you say you’re glad I pulled you out but… you were happy and I feel horrible about it.” 

“I don’t want fake happiness.” Goro shook his head as his and Akira could feel his silent tears smudge into his shoulder. 

The two of them stood close together for a long time before Goro’s silent crying turned into quiet sobs that grew into loud crying. Akira guided Goro to the sofa to sit down and just hold him, rocking the back of his head into his shoulder trying to think of what he could do or say to ease the pain. 

With every tear, every sharp inhale of breath, Akira’s heart clenched and his rage began to build. Maruki did this. Whatever Maruki offered to them, nothing was going to make up for making Goro cry like this, and he wouldn’t be the last. Haru’s father was going to be dead again, Futaba’s mother would as well, and Makoto’s father. Ryuji’s track dream would turn back to ash, Yusuke would still be at odds with Madarame, the only good thing that might happen would be Ann getting Shiho back.

An hour later Goro managed to finally calm down enough to speak. Well, first he got up to wash his face and retrieve the first aid kit. He only spoke after he had begun to treat Akira’s wounds. “He’s strong then I take it?” Goro dabbed on a nasty cut. “We took down a god and you weren’t even nearly this injured.”

“He is stupidly strong.” Morgana answered, washing his face. “I think that his power to enforce his desires on reality makes him stronger than that god was. He even took Yoshizawa captive.” Morgana explained. 

“Yoshizawa?” Goro paused. 

“She was the only other person who realized something was wrong, but I think that was because she was already living in an altered reality before this new one took root.” Morgana continued to do most of the talking as Goro cleaned around Akira’s face. “Do you know which sister Yoshizawa is?” 

“Which…” Goro looked at Morgana with a raised eyebrow, “I believe she’s Sumire right? I remembered checking up on her after we met just before summer.” Of course Goro knew. Now Akira just felt stupid. He’d helped feed into Maruki’s lie.

“I thought she was Kasumi.” Akira admitted. “She never corrected me, but that was apparently because she already thought she was her sister. Maruki had used his power on her.” 

“What kind of shadow does he have?” Goro frowned. “I don’t like how strong it sounds.” 

“I wonder about that being a shadow.” Morgana’s tail began to swish slowly. “That thing we fought was oddly strong, and Maruki himself didn’t have the distorted voice shadows normally have. He didn’t have those yellow eyes either. And if he’s been inflicting this cognitive change on Yoshizawa for so long already I have my doubts about any mere shadow doing that.”

“You think that was the real Maruki? How?” Akira asked. 

“I do. It doesn’t make a lot of sense since but I think Maruki can use a persona. As far as I know persona users can’t have palaces but the rule book was thrown out a long time ago. It makes the most sense to explain how his palace has spilled out to affect the world.” Morgana explained as his ear twitched. “And how he affected Yoshizawa before we even met her. He was awakening to his powers for a while and it probably started with Yoshizawa.” 

“What?” Akira snapped his attention to Morgana now making Goro smear antiseptic along his cheek with an annoyed sound. 

“It’s just a theory.” Morgana shook his head. “We need to get in there and find out.”

“We need our friends first.” Goro cleaned up the mess then put a bandaid over his cheek. “If he’s so strong that you both came out looking like this we don’t have a chance alone. We didn’t beat that evil god all by ourselves, so I have to hope it’ll go better with everyone together.” 

“Right,” Morgana agreed, “we can start looking at that tomorrow. Right now I think we need to clean you up then sleep.” Goro shifted to Morgana to start cleaning his wounds next. Once Morgana was done Goro started to put the kit back together.

“I feel much better now. Thanks Goro.” Morgana stretched carefully. “I’m going to go use that nice cat bed I saw this morning before we left. I’m tired.” 

“Good night.” Akira said.

“I’ll put the kit away. You go get ready for bed yourself.” Goro closed the lid then stood to walk away.

Akira did as he was instructed then headed into their bedroom. He checked to find his clothes were still there so he could at least wear something he was sure he was comfortable in. 

As he collapsed into bed Akira thought about the fact that it was likely that his clothes would stay here until everyone was back in their senses. Akira thought on this fact and felt a little sad about it. He kind of liked being here like this with Goro.

“Tell me this isn’t a habit.” Goro sighed after he came into their room and picked up Akira’s pants to put them away. 

“Sorry. Just tired.” Akira explained turning over on the bed to watch Goro check the pockets for his phone to plug in. That in itself was fine but then he pulled out the ring box. Why did that still exist?! 

“What is this?” Goro wiggled the box at Akira. 

“That’s… uh…” Akira sat back up just as Goro opened the box to look inside. Silence hung so heavily between them that Akira probably could have cut it with his dagger. After an uncomfortable five minutes passed Goro’s face reddened and he snapped the box closed. 

“Was this… something you planned or is it Maruki again?” Goro asked quietly. Akira suddenly _**NEEDED**_ to try and decipher the expression on Goro’s face but it was damn impossible. There was a possibility that Goro thought this was another sick joke from Maruki to cause even more pain or he could think that this was something Akira wanted to do even before this world came into being which could go either way. 

Goro had already had his mother ripped away from him tonight and Akira couldn’t bear the idea of making Goro feel even worse by telling him that Maruki was trying to force this on them too. “It was mine…” Akira said slowly, “before all this.” It was a lie, but from the shift of Goro’s lips this was one lie Akira wouldn’t feel bad telling. The ring might vanish when they got rid of Maruki’s dream world but maybe then Goro could take it and Akira would have the balls to do it properly.

“When I saw this I thought maybe this was something Maruki was pushing. That it was because Maruki wanted it to happen to keep us content in this dream.” Goro tossed Akira’s pants aside then moved to sit on the edge of the bed with his phone and the ring box. He set the former to the side as he held the box in the palm of his hand. He was silent for a long time before he finally spoke, “I know she was fake, but my mother would have been thrilled with this.” Goro opened the box again.

Akira watched Goro’s face for a long time before he moved up to sit next to him, moving his phone out of the way and to the nightstand as he went. “So… will you?” This wasn’t something Akira planned on. He had just been telling Morgana he wasn’t even ready for this to happen yet but here he was and regardless of the panic rising in his stomach he felt like this was good.

Goro glanced over to Akira with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. He said nothing as he took the ring out of the box then put it on his finger. “Does that answer for you?” 

“Is that a maybe?” Akira looked thoughtful. “I don’t know which finger is the right one, I’ll admit, so…”

“Asshole.” Goro shoved him lightly to make him fall back into the bed before he stood to change out of his clothes. Akira rolled to the side a little to watch him before plugging his phone in so it could charge. After a few minutes Goro returned to look down at Akira. 

“What?” Akira asked after Goro just stood there for a minute and stared at him. 

“I will.” Goro answered and for a split second the answer didn’t connect with him but then Goro shifted a little and the moonlight caught the ring just right for it to glitter and remind Akira that it existed.

“You will?” Akira repeated his face reddening quickly. 

“I’ll marry you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s the end of the chapter! Akira seems not like this world made where he can be happy with his loved ones. Everyone is perfectly happy. There’s no reason to wish to return to any other reality. He can marry Goro here. His parents haven’t cut him off. The Phantom Thieves are respected. Why would anyone want to leave this perfect world made for them?
> 
> preview: _“Akira please. I need some time to think.” Yusuke tried to shrug him off._
> 
> _“I know, but I just want to thank you for stepping aside.” Akira released Yusuke’s shoulder as the taller man turned to stare at him in confusion. “I can’t imagine what it felt like to look at Goro and me and decide that you were going to leave it be. I really believe that one day you will have someone who really appreciates you.”_
> 
> _“You and…” Yusuke trailed off looking as if he were in even deeper thought now, “Akechi.” Yusuke’s eyes lifted up to stare at Goro before he turned away once again. “I’ll be going now.” This time Akira didn’t stop him from leaving._


	40. i’m done with having dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> goro and akira have to wake their friends up from this dream they've all been put into but that's easier said than done. it's not so easy to look at friends being happy and decide to draw them out of that happiness. but the bandage has to come off and maruki has to be stopped. somehow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⭐

“So,” Akira stated as he looked across the table to Goro as his boyfri--no fiance, oh that was going to take some getting used to, looked over the news for the day on his phone. “Who do we start with?” 

“You said you’d found out about everyone’s current lives, correct?” Goro asked, sipping his coffee without looking up. 

“Yeah, save for like… one. Everyone is pretty happy.” Akira answered. 

“Who isn’t happy?” Goro looked up at last. He seemed to find the fact that there was someone miserable as an interesting topic.

“Ann, in this fantasy Maruki created for her, Shiho never left and somehow that led to her and Yuuki hooking up.” Akira explained. “When I talked to her yesterday she got snappy when I asked about Shiho and her hanging out. Said she knows we’re happy but she doesn’t need me to push her.”

“Well, I think that’s where we start. Maruki made a mistake with her.” Goro put his phone down as he thought. “Ann was careful about who she told about Shiho and herself. Maruki might have been the school therapist but clearly she didn’t tell him about how things worked out between them. This is a good place to get a grip and rip up his lies.” 

“Yeah, so he pushed to make it seem like Shiho was happy and that maybe that would make Ann happy.” Akira turned his attention to Morgana as he jumped up on the table. “So we’ll start with Ann, who after that?” 

“Maybe Ryuji?” Morgana suggested. “He’s just living in a fantasy of his track team right?” 

“That seems to be it but we can’t take anyone’s dreams lightly. Ryuji wanted to be in track to get a scholarship so he could get into a good school and support his mother after all she’s done for him.” Akira explained. 

“He wants what’s best for her. If he’s still with the track team then she’ll never have had to apologize for his actions against Kamoshida.” Goro touched his chin. “He’ll be seen as a respected student among your peers and as such he’ll have caused no trouble for her. This is his perfect world.”

“So we have to find the point that snags on their fantasy life and pull at the thread until it comes undone.” Morgana summed up. “Akira you’re going to be the best person to help pull everyone out.” Morgana nodded. “You made a close connection with everyone and I think that you’d be the one to remind them of what they came to terms with.” Morgana cleaned his face after he was done talking. 

“Goro has too.” Akira waved a hand. “They told me everything Goro’s helped them with. I think we need to approach this as a team.” Akira looked to Goro before he smiled and winked. “Right?” 

“R-right.” Goro’s face dusted pink before he finished his coffee and stood. “I’m going to get ready to go. We should find out where Ann is and talk to her or see if she’ll meet with us.” 

“Sure. I’ll send her a text.” Akira smiled as he watched Goro leave the table to go to their room to get dressed. 

“So…” Morgana looked at Akira, “what happened with that ring he’s wearing?” 

“You and I are going to pretend it was my plan the whole time because I don’t think he can take another loss after his mom.” Akira drank his coffee before pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Just… don’t bring it up to him. I’ll figure it out later. For now I wanted to give him something good.” 

“Fine, fine.” Morgana shook his head. 

_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _8:24am: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : heya ann.  
**Akira** : you free today?  
**Ann** : i’m meeting with shiho to do some shopping in a little while.  
**Ann** : why?  
**Akira** : i was wondering if you wanted to have lunch with goro and me.  
**Ann** : did u pop the q?  
**Akira** : i might have…  
**Ann** : hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.  
**Ann** : sure.  
**Ann** : where do you wanna meet?  
**Akira** : how about the diner near the crepe shop?  
**Ann** : alright. i’ll see you guys around noon?  
**Akira** : ye.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

“Ann’s going to meet us for lunch.” Akira announced setting his phone down on the table to turn as Goro came back out of their room. His fingers were busy fastening his buttons and he seemed to only kind of catch what Akira was talking about. 

“Lunch?” Goro looked up to the clock on the wall. “Well. That leaves us open to find another person as well then. Who else can we catch between now and then?”

“Maybe Makoto?” Akira suggested. 

“Hmmm. No. I think maybe Kitagawa would be better.” Goro looked troubled. 

“Why?” Morgana asked. 

“I feel like it would be almost too cruel to tear away dead parents too fast.” Goro admitted and Akira shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Not to say I wish I had been drawn out later. I just… I know what it feels like.”

“So you want to leave Haru, Futaba, and Makoto for last?” Morgana summarized. 

“Yes. If possible.” Goro admitted tucking his shirt into his pants.

“I’ll message Yusuke and see what he’s up to then.” Akira picked his phone back up to text Yusuke. 

_** YUSUKE KITAGAWA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _8:45am: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : you busy right now?  
**Yusuke** : What can I help you with?  
**Akira** : wondering if you got a few minutes to talk with goro and me.  
**Yusuke** : In person?  
**Akira** : yeah.  
**Yusuke** : Well, the gallery opens in about fifteen minutes. But I can spare a little time to speak with friends.  
**Akira** : great.  
**Akira** : remind me where the gallery is...  
**Yusuke** : Ueno.  
**Akira** : got it. we’ll be there soon.  
**Yusuke** : Of course.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

“Yusuke’s at a gallery in Ueno? We can meet with him before we go to Ann.” Akira pushed himself up from the table. “I’ll get dressed real quick and then we can go.” 

______________________________________________________________

Traveling to Ueno took very little time. Once they arrived the gallery was already filled with people looking at paintings and talking about lighting or whatever they thought made them sound smart. “So this is an exhibit showcasing Madarame’s pupils.” Goro said as he flipped over a pamphlet he had picked up on their way inside. “ _Starting with Midori Kitagawa, Ichiryusai Madarame has made it his life’s mission to find and nurture amazing artists throughout the years. Though his own artistic talent was robbed from him by sickness, he supports those who may still yet find their passions.’_ This fantasy Kitagawa has made up here makes Madarame a decent man. It goes on to talk about how after his mother died Madarame took in Kitagawa as his own son.”

“Yusuke always did still have a soft spot for Madarame.” Akira leaned closer to look at the paper. “He was really upset that Madarame had used him and believed in him until there was no other choice.” 

“So how do we get him to come out?” Goro looked at Akira. 

“It might be best to remind him of what Madarame really did to his mother.” Akira pushed his glasses up. “He let her die so he could steal her art.” 

“Hm. Let’s play it by an ear.” Goro put the paper away in his breast pocket. “I see him over there. Let’s go.” 

Akira and Goro approached Yusuke standing in front of the painting ‘Sayuri’ displayed as it’s true form with the child in her arms. Yusuke had wanted his mother’s painting to be seen by the world. It made sense that it would be here but it did make Akira feel bad. They were here to pull Yusuke out of this world and put things right. 

“I was wondering if you two got lost. Welcome.” Yusuke greeted them both with a bright smile. “Look here,” Yusuke motioned at the painting, “my mother’s painting is finally receiving the public attention it deserves!” 

“It’s very lovely Yusuke.” Akira forced a smile. 

“Yes, though it’s only on display for this week I’m glad to have this chance to view it with you both.” Yusuke stared at the painting with a soft smile. “I have truly been blessed. I've been waiting for so long to see this painting here. I can only hope to make a masterpiece like this one day. As long as I have sensei supporting me I know I can get there. There’s nothing that could make me happier at this moment.” 

“You know,” Goro looked from the painting to Yusuke, “you had told me very recently that no matter what happened you wouldn’t take someone’s hand to guide you.” 

“Hm?” Yusuke looked to Goro with a raised eyebrow. “What do you mean?” 

“You told me that you would find your way without someone else’s hand on your shoulders trying to direct you.” Goro elaborated. 

“I… when did I say something like that?” Yusuke looked troubled as he stared at the floor. 

“You have a lot of trust in Madarame, but do you really need him?” Akira questioned. “I mean… Sayuri looks amazing here but why does it _need_ to be here? What was it that you felt the first time you saw the real one here?” 

“Sayuri…? That’s not the painting’s name…” Yusuke folded his arms with a troubled look, “but… That seems right somehow?” Yusuke stared at the floor then looked at the painting again. “Am I making a mistake?” 

“Just remember what it was that you really wanted.” Goro slipped a hand into Akira’s. 

“What I really wanted…?” Yusuke repeated staring at Goro with a frown. “I think… I need some time alone. Sorry.” Yusuke turned away from the couple then walked off. 

“Should we follow him?” Akira asked. 

“I think that was enough.” Goro shook his head. “He’ll get there. Besides, we need to head to Shibuya to meet with Ann soon.” 

“Right.” Akira watched as Yusuke walked away before he chewed his bottom lip. “Just… one second.” Akira wiggled his hand free of Goro’s, passed him Morgana, then jogged after Yusuke and grabbed his shoulder “Hey, Yusuke, wait.” 

“Akira please. I need some time to think.” Yusuke tried to shrug him off. 

“I know, but I just want to thank you for stepping aside.” Akira released Yusuke’s shoulder as the taller man turned to stare at him in confusion. “I can’t imagine what it felt like to look at Goro and me and decide that you were going to leave it be. I really believe that one day you will have someone who really appreciates you.”

“You and…” Yusuke trailed off looking as if he were in even deeper thought now, “Akechi.” Yusuke’s eyes lifted up to stare at Goro before he turned away once again. “I’ll be going now.” This time Akira didn’t stop him from leaving. 

“What did you tell him?” Goro questioned after reaching Akira again to pass back his bag with Morgana inside. 

“Nothing too important. Let’s head to Shibuya.” Akira offered his hand to Goro who took it before the two of them left. 

“Yusuke seemed kind of resistant right?” Morgana asked once they were back on the train. “He didn’t come out of it as cleanly as Goro did.” 

“I think that’s because Goro’s already had enough of people trying to manipulate him.” Akira guessed. 

“You’re probably right.” Goro agreed. “I felt like something was strange but at the same time I was content. I don’t think it was just because of her being alive. You were living with me and neither of us had any kind of crimes hanging over us.” Goro explained his reasoning as he played with his ring through his gloves. “When Maruki asked me what I wanted I told him I wanted you to not be a criminal.” 

“It’s sweet that you let yourself get wrapped up in this world because you wanted me not to be in prison.” Akira grinned as he closed the distance between them to wrap his arms around Goro’s middle. “I like you better like this though.” 

“What?” Goro tried not to laugh. “You like me pissed off and ready to fight a god at a moment’s notice?” Goro rolled his eyes softly as Akira just stared at him. “What?”

“Wow, I just meant when you’re snippy. When you throw in willing to fight a god at the drop of a hat I gotta say I’m ready to rip my clothes off and let you have your way with me right here.” Akira said as he drew one of Goro’s hands up to kiss the top. “You’re kind of amazing.”

“You already got the ‘yes’ you don’t need to try so hard.” Goro laughed. 

“I’m not! I’m being honest.” Akira pouted.

“You two are so gross.” Morgana grumbled as he poked his head out from Akira’s bag “ Is this flirting going to be normal? If so I demand sushi in return for being assaulted like this.” 

“You’re not being assaulted.” Akira reached his free hand back to give Morgana a pat. “But I could go for sushi. What about you Goro?”

“You already know the answer to that question.” Goro looked deadpan.

“I think it means I need to get three of the deluxe orders for dinner tonight.” Akira laughed before he nuzzled into Goro’s neck earning a laugh from his boyf--fiance. That was still a new thought.

The rest of the train ride to Shibuya was spent talking about what Morgana wanted for sushi while Goro made vague additions like he was trying to pretend he didn’t want sushi as much as Morgana did. Once they got to the main street they spotted Ann standing all by herself looking a bit disappointed. 

“Was Suzui-san supposed to be here too?” Goro asked Akira quietly. 

“Yeah…” Akira said slowly, “let’s be careful about what we mention okay?” 

Goro nodded before he and Akira approached Ann, “oh hey guys!” Ann greeted them as she quickly plastered a smile across her face. 

“Were you waiting long?” Goro asked. 

“Nah, not really!” Ann said but Akira could tell that she was lying. “Shiho suddenly had to run home so it’s just us today!” 

“That’s too bad. I was hoping to hear how her volleyball was going.” Goro motioned for Ann to head up the stairs to the diner first.

“Oh she’s doing awesome! Ranked first in regionals! MVP and everything.” Ann spoke excitedly before they sat down. She took one side with Morgana in Akira’s bag, while Goro and Akira took the other. Once they were seated Ann took off her ear muffs and scarf prompting Goro to remove his gloves and scarf as well. Akira caught her looking down at the ring before she snapped her eyes up to the menu. 

“So Suzui-san had to run suddenly? Did something bad happen?” Goro asked. 

“Huh? Oh. Uh, nah just a team meeting she forgot about. Mishima-kun found us waiting and reminded her since he was on his way to the school too. Such a good boyfriend.” Ann dismissed. “I’m glad she’s happy.” 

“You wouldn’t wish for more?” Akira asked before Ann’s face faltered and she shot him a dark look. “I mean, even when she went away you couldn’t stop thinking about her.”

“Went away…?” Ann questioned him as her expression turned confused at Akira’s words. 

“After what happened with Kamoshida she changed schools.” Akira was trying to be careful but he also felt like he needed to break Ann out as quickly as he could. She was miserable and would probably take to their words much faster than Yusuke. “Remember when you asked her out?” 

“Asked her… I--” Ann gripped the menu tightly in her hands before hiding her face behind it. 

“Akira you’re pressing too hard.” Goro hissed. 

“She’s miserable, Goro. I can’t just give her a tip and let her keep suffering if she doesn't get it.” Akira hissed back before Ann suddenly slammed the menu onto the table. “Ann?” 

“I’m going home.” Ann announced. “I thought I could do this but seeing you two so happy… I’m sorry. Maybe another time.” Ann moved Morgana from next to her to put him on the inside of the booth before she wiggled out and started to leave. 

“See?” Goro nudged Akira in the ribs before he got out of his seat, grabbed Ann’s things she’d left behind, then rushed after her.

Silently Akira followed after with Morgana to watch and listen from afar as Goro caught her to give her back her earmuffs and scarf. “He’s pushy and I’m sorry.” Akira could make out what Goro said. “He just remembers being in your position and how much it hurt. Hanahaki notwithstanding.” 

“Hanahaki?” Ann looked confused. “Huh… I’ve heard of it before. But why?” Ann held her scarf in her hands. Her eyes flicked up from her scarf to Goro’s hand before she took hold of the hand with the ring to look at it. “I… helped him pick this out you know? I’m glad he actually had the guts to do it.” 

“Me too.” Goro agreed with a slight smile. “He’s not wrong though. You did ask Suzui-san out. You told me about when you did it.” Goro held Ann’s hand in a firm grip. “You were helping her after her physical therapy one day. If I remember exactly you said she looked so frustrated and depressed at herself that you thought that maybe you could give her a little hope. So you told her you believed in her because you always did. You loved her.”

Ann turned rigid at Goro’s words, her face a mixture of pain and confusion as she tried to sort out what she was hearing from Goro. After a minute her shoulders relaxed and she looked at him with a teary smile. “After we beat that god I told her I was a Phantom Thief and we punished Kamoshida.” 

It was then Akira decided to move in closer to make his presence known again. “I think it’s hard to keep it a secret from the people we love the most. Isn’t it?” Akira questioned.

“Y-yeah.” Ann sniffled before suddenly throwing her arms around both of them. “I’m so sorry you guys. I was being a real bitch.” Ann gave them a tight squeeze before she let them go. “What’s happening?” 

“Crazy shit.” Akira admitted. “Shall we try that lunch again?” 

“Yeah.” Ann agreed before they returned to the diner. Once they were all seated Goro, now sitting next to Ann and across from Akira, explained what he understood of the situation. Once their food had arrived Ann spoke, “so, Maruki is actually making all this happen huh?” 

“Yeah. He took Yoshizawa and told me to see how everyone else was liking their new lives.” Akira motioned over Ann. “From what I saw of yesterday you were miserable so I thought you might be the easiest to pull free.” 

“You got that right.” Ann leaned back in her seat. “I never told Maruki about Shiho and I being together. I don’t even think it was on my radar as a possibility when I saw him. He just used what he thought I would want.” 

“Poorly at that.” Goro nodded before he ate some. 

“So what’s the plan?” Ann questioned. 

“We’re going to keep trying to draw people out of this world. We already tried to talk to Yusuke, I think he’ll get there but it might take a little more time for him. It’s harder to do when we talk about Makoto or Futaba or even Haru. They all got back dead parents.” Akira explained. 

“Yeah…” Ann hummed as she crossed her legs, “well, if there’s a way I can help just let me know.” 

“We will. Right now I think it’s best that Akira and I try to draw them out first.” Goro explained. “We both spent time with everyone in one way or another. It might be strange but with what we know combined I think we can get the job done.” 

“Yeah.” Akira agreed. 

“Alright. I’ll provide support then.” Ann flashed a smile. 

“Ann!” someone suddenly called for her earning Ann’s full attention. When Akira turned to look he caught sight of a red faced and teary Shiho huffing as if she had just run all the way here. In an instant Ann was on her feet rushing to Shiho’s side to pull her into a tight embrace. 

“Did...Suzui-san remember too?” Goro questioned Akira as they both watched the girl’s touching moment as Ann held the sides of Shiho’s face and kissed her deeply. “I think that means yes.” 

“Now that’s beautiful.” Akira wiped a fake tear from his eye before Ann brought Shiho to the table. “Everything good?” 

“It’s perfect.” Ann leaned her head over to touch hers against Shiho’s. “Thank you guys.” 

“I don’t really know what’s going on but thank you.” Shiho bowed to Goro and Akira. “I was with Mishima-kun when I suddenly remembered, I didn’t even like him all that much. He seemed equally distraught but I left him alone before I could figure out what had him panicking.” 

“Ann tells us you know about the Phantom Thieves?” Goro questioned. 

“Um, yes.” Shiho blushed lightly. “She told me about all of it. I’ve been keeping it a secret because I didn’t want her in trouble.” Shiho looked around at the diner. “So… all this stuff that’s happening. It’s related to Phantom Thief stuff?” 

“Yeah.” Akira confirmed. 

“Well, I’ll be cheering you guys on to get it fixed then.” Shiho took Ann’s hand. “Can I take her home with me?” 

“Yeah. Go ahead. If we need you we’ll let you know Ann.” Akira promised. 

“Thank you guys.” Ann pulled away from Shiho to give them both a kiss on the cheek before dragging Morgana closer to give him one on the head. “You better text me.” 

“Yes ma’am.” Akira saluted before watching Ann and Shiho leave. “Ahhh, that leaves a much better feeling in my stomach.” 

“Mine as well.” Goro agreed. “Not everyone will be as happy as she was though. We’ll find a few sad faces the next time we do this.” 

“I know.” Akira sighed looking at the table. “Would you get mad if I asked that we leave it at this today? I don’t think I have the energy to do any more right now.” 

“I agree.” Goro pushed his food around. “We have until the 9th right? Let’s try talking with Ryuji tomorrow then wait until the next day to talk to whoever we decide on next. Effectively killing parents a second time is...draining.” 

“I think that’s a good idea.” Morgana said. “It’s a pretty heavy mental toll here. Just remember you’ve got each other and Ann.” 

“Right.” Akira sighed. “I’m still not looking forward to this. 

“Would anybody?” Goro questioned and Akira couldn’t find any way that someone would want to actually do this.

_** YUUKI MISHIMA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _4:47pm: **Yuuki** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Yuuki** : AKIRA PLEASE TELL ME YOU’RE STILL NORMAL.  
**Akira** : define normal.  
**Yuuki** : LIKE, NORMAL YOU.  
**Yuuki** : I know what.  
**Yuuki** : Have Suzui and I ever dated?  
**Akira** : haha. No.  
**Yuuki** : Oh thank fuck. You’re still you.  
**Akira** : i am indeed. are you okay?  
**Yuuki** : I have no idea. I was like sitting with Suzui at the school and we were about to kiss but suddenly I remembered I don’t even like her like that.  
**Yuuki** : Then she ran away saying she needed to see Takamaki.  
**Akira** : and what did you do?  
**Yuuki** : What?  
**Akira** : after she left.  
**Yuuki** : OH. I checked the Phan-Site. It’s really weird, after that like, fight you guys did no one seems to remember anything.  
**Yuuki** : I don’t even remember changing the poll question.  
**Akira** : listen, just...chill. we’re working on it.  
**Yuuki** : So this is some kind of weird Phantom Thief thing?  
**Akira** : we’ll put it that way, yes.  
**Yuuki** : Okay. Yeah.  
**Akira** : just go like normal. we’ll fix this.  
**Yuuki** : Alright. If I can help let me know.  
**Akira** : if i send you a picture of a ring can you find me a place where it can be bought?  
**Yuuki** : Uh. Sure?  
**Akira** : i’ll send you a picture later. i’ll owe you my life if you can do that for me.  
**Yuuki** : Why?  
**Akira** : i’ll explain later. i’ve gotta go pick up dinner.  
**Yuuki** : Okay.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

______________________________________________________________

_** RYUJI SAKAMOTO ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _12:06pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : bro you busy today?  
**Ryuji** : you caught me about to hit the track field  
**Ryuji** : sup?  
**Akira** : you going to be there all day?  
**Ryuji** : we’ll be wrapping up around three.  
**Akira** : you wanna catch an early dinner together with goro?  
**Ryuji** : the guys and i were gunna head out after practice  
**Akira** : well can i get you for like five minutes before that then?  
**Ryuji** : sure  
**Ryuji** : meet outside the school?  
**Akira** : we’ll be there.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

That afternoon Goro and Akira made their way to the school just as some of the track team walked out of the gate. Ryuji was the last to come out as they spoke excitedly about something. “Dude I can’t believe you got scouted by that college!” Nakaoka almost shouted. 

“Pipe down, stupid!” Ryuji snapped before he caught sight of Akira, Goro, and Morgana. “Now look what ya did.” He let out a sigh before jogging over to the three of them. “Sup dudes?” 

“Should we pretend we didn’t hear the college scout or…?” Akira pointed backwards as if suggesting they could leave. 

“It’s fine. It’s not a sure thing or anything.” Ryuji dismissed. “The school just heard something about it so it’s a big maybe. Everyone’s just excited since I nearly lost my chances after my knee got all messed up. So what’d you wanna talk about?” 

“Just wanted to check on you. See if you’re really enjoying being back with the track team.” Akira explained. He and Goro had planned things a bit better now. Going off the wall with whatever popped into their heads was not a good plan. 

“Uh? Yeah? It’s fun and shit. What’re you askin’ for?” Ryuji looked confused. “Like, it’s what I like doin’ and stuff. I get all down when I’m not runnin’ y’know?” 

“So your leg is just fine now?” Goro asked. 

“You’re worried about that? It’s totes fine, dude!” Ryuji did a quick squat as if he was trying to prove it. “No problems here since that injury a while back.” 

“How’d you get injured again?” Akira asked. 

“Oh it was that bastard Kamoshida’s fault--” Ryuji answered before he suddenly paused. “Wait... Ain’t there something wrong here?” Ryuji looked down at his leg. “How’d we even meet anyway?” 

“It was in front of the station by the school.” Akira answered. 

“That was a pretty crazy day.” Morgana said, drawing Ryuji’s attention. He stared at Morgana for a long time before he shook his head when his name was called by his teammates. 

“We’ll be waiting for you.” Goro smiled. 

“Uh...sure.” Ryuji nodded before he flinched suddenly. “What the hell was that?” 

“You okay?” Akira reached to touch Ryuji’s shoulder. 

“Uh, yeah. I gotta go.” Ryuji waved before he jogged off to join the track team. 

“You think that’s enough?” Morgana asked. 

“I hope so.” Akira sighed. “Now it’s time for the harder ones.”

“Tomorrow. I think we’ll need a full night’s rest before we even think about how to approach any of them.” Goro tugged on Akira’s hand. “Let’s pick up some stuff to make curry tonight.” 

“Oh you miss my curry?” Akira teased. 

“I miss Boss’ curry but yours will have to do.” Goro poked back.

_______________________________________________________

_** HARU OKUMURA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:16am: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : haru are you free today?  
**Haru** : Not exactly. Is there something wrong?  
**Akira** : no. i was just wondering if you had a minute to talk with goro and me.  
**Haru** : Well, I’ll be in Kichijoji with my father in about an hour. We could arrange to talk there for a few moments.  
**Akira** : sounds like a plan. can you meet us around penguin sniper?  
**Haru** : Of course! That will be around where my father and I will be as well.  
**Akira** : cool beans.  
**Akira** : see you in a few. 🖤  
**Haru** : 💜💜💜💜  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

“This area would meet the required threshold for a good business location.” Akira could hear the familiar voice of Haru’s father as they cleared a crowd of people. Akira paused as he looked at Okumura standing there completely alive. He remembered the odd spaceman they had fought only a few months ago and suddenly he felt very guilty for what they would have to do. Even if they left Haru in this reality and went to stop Maruki without her she would be dragged out of it anyway. At least this way she would have a means to point her anger. 

“Yes, I agree.” Haru looked around. “The research says this community is interest in the highest-quality ingredients and modern store designs. I think it would be best if this location focused on organic produce with an elegant interior.” 

“Are they talking about opening up some kind of store here?” Morgana asked. 

“Sounds like it. Haru wasn’t that interested in doing what her dad did though.” Akira tapped his chin. 

“We may want to review what we thought about asking.” Goro suggested. “Haru was very insistent that she make a name for herself by taking what her father made but putting her grandfather’s heart into it.” 

“Right.” Akira agreed before he stepped around a few people to stand next to Haru. “Hello Haru.” 

“Oh! Akira-kun! Goro-kun too, it’s good to see you both.” Haru greeted them. “Happy New Year Goro-kun. I hadn’t gotten the chance to say that yet.” 

“Happy New Year Haru.” Goro returned with a smile. “What were you up to here?” 

“I’m helping my father today! We’re here looking at a potential site for a new company store.” Haru explained with a smile. 

“Are these friends of yours?” Okumura turned to Haru but his eyes stayed on Goro. Did he know?

“Yes they’ve both been wonderful friends. Akira-kun is an underclassmen at my school and Goro-kun is his boyfriend.” Haru introduced them without missing a beat. “Honestly when I see them together it really makes me believe that cliche romances can be real. They’re a perfect couple.” 

“Haru please, you’re making me blush.” Akira played with his bangs as his face turned a deep red.

“Ahh, and here I was about to worry about my Haru making friends with boys.” Okumura offered his hand to Akira and then to Goro to shake. “I hope you remain good friends with my daughter and that friendship is truly what you have.” 

“Father!” Haru softly tapped his shoulder. “Please don’t say things like that. Akira-kun became my friend before he even knew who I was. He helps me with the garden at school!” 

“I was just teasing.” Okumura insisted with a chuckle. “I know I raised a daughter smart enough to know when people are trying to use her.” 

“That’s right.” Haru nodded with a laugh of her own. 

“At any rate, I can sense you’re wonderful friends for my daughter. Please continue to support her going forward.” Okumura bowed his head to them some. “My daughter’s happiness is my own after all.” This Okumura was much kinder than the one they had known before. It was sweet to see Haru getting along so well with her father but Akira and Goro knew the truth. 

Even if this Okumura was a gentleman of a father, he wasn’t real. As soon as Haru came to her senses he would vanish just as Goro’s mother had. Okumura excused himself from the conversation to take a phone call leaving them alone with Haru. “Would you two care to join us for coffee?” Haru asked.

“If you’ll permit me to ask, how is business Haru?” Goro asked rather than answer about coffee.

“I’m not so sure. I don’t know all the details.” Haru shook her head. “I’m just helping out my father. He’s just been so busy lately but the staff have been holding up their own end. They’re out scouting for new business locations as well. It’s all hands on deck. I do think that it’s going quite well.” 

“Is this your dream though?” Akira asked and right away Haru looked confused. 

“My dream?” Haru repeated. “No, I wouldn’t call it anything so drastic. I’ve just been so busy lately that I can barely handle what’s on my plate, so--wait.” Haru looked troubled. 

“You wanted to open up something like Leblanc didn’t you?” Akira asked, pushing his glasses up. 

“Leblanc?” Haru touched her chin lightly as she cast her eyes to the ground in deep thought. 

“You’ll figure it out.” Morgana popped out to comfort her. “We’ll all be waiting there when you’re ready.” 

“O-oh, okay.” Haru looked up as her father called for her. “Uh, I have to go. I’ll see you again later.” Haru bowed her head to them before she left. 

“You think that’s enough?” Akira asked as he watched Haru leave. 

“We won’t know. Hopefully it’s enough to fix things before the ninth.” Goro sighed. “That was… deeply stressful. How about we play a game of billiards or darts since we’re here?” Goro suggested. 

“We can wrap up the day with a little jazz too.” Akira linked his fingers with Goro’s before tugging him along to head into Penguin Sniper.

_____________________________________________________________

**_MAKOTO NIIJIMA_ **

**__** **_{_ ** _11:13am: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : hey makoto are you free at all today?  
**Makoto** : Not really. My sister and I are planning on going shopping soon and we’ll be busy all day.  
**Akira** : are you going to be in shibuya?  
**Makoto** : Probably?  
**Akira** : goro just wants to say happy new year in person and all that you know?  
**Akira** : i told him text is fine but he’s insistent.  
**Makoto** : Oh! Well, I can probably get us to stop for a minute outside the Inogami line if you hurry on over.  
**Akira** : perfect. be there soon.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

“There they are.” Akira said as he spotted Sae and Makoto waiting by the stairs. “So we’re going with plan A right?” 

“They’re expecting us so there’s no change we can make here.” Goro shook his head. “Mona you better stay down. I don’t know what Sae-san will think about you being around if she sees you in this reality.” 

“Fiiiine.” Morgana complained.

“Akira,” Makoto waved,” and Goro-kun, good to see you guys. Happy New Year Goro-kun.” Makoto greeted. 

“And to you as well Makoto-chan. Happy New Year Sae-san.” Goro bowed to her. 

“Akechi-kun, you look happy. Did something good happen?” Sae smirked and Akira felt his stomach bottom out. Did she just know Goro well enough to say that or did Makoto tell him? Though Ann had offered Akira some over a few days ago to cover the engagement as well. He needed to text her to enforce that idea on her. 

“I don’t know what you mean.” Goro cleared his throat as if trying to dismiss her suggestion. 

“So you gals were out doing some shopping?” Akira asked to try taking control of the conversation. 

“Yep. We’re going to celebrate our dad receiving the superintendent general award!” Makoto grinned. She was clearly very pleased with her father getting an award.

“That’s unbelievable.” Goro clapped lightly. “That’s quite the amazing award.” 

“You two don’t need to make it out to be such a spectacle.” Sae shook her head. “Makoto, Dad told you earlier to just act like it’s not a big deal didn’t he?” 

“I know but I couldn’t help it!” Makoto looked rather gleeful and Akira could feel his stomach churning again. He hated the idea of dragging his friends out of their happy lives when it involved dead parents being alive again. “I’m just so thrilled for him. He’s finally getting the recognition that he deserves!” 

“Well, I do know how you feel.” Sae agreed before her phone began to ring. “I’ll be right over here.”

“You know, you two should join us for dinner!” Makoto suggested. “My dad has been dying to get to know you Goro-kun. I think he wants you on the force with him if he can help it.” 

“As kind an offer as that is I’ll have to decline. I’m going to be working on my own as a consulting detective.” Goro shook his head. “I wouldn’t be able to sit comfortably as a police officer after what happened to Akira.” 

“What happened to Akira?” Makoto looked from Goro to Akira. “What do you mean?” 

“It’s not important.” Akira shook his head. “How’s the family? You guys seem pretty happy.” 

“Uh, oh. Yes!” Makoto was all too happy to move onto another topic. 

“Your dad’s been supportive of your dream?” Akira asked. 

“My dad? Of course. He’s looking forward to me joining the force like him.” Makoto explained. “He did so much as a single parent and I just hope I can be half…” Makoto trailed off. “No, wait… something’s off… Mom died so Dad raised us alone… then Sis…” 

“You’re so close Makoto…” Morgana stuck his head out of Akira’s bag. 

“M-Mona? Wait, what are you saying?” Makoto asked, almost sounding panicked. “I just…” 

“Makoto, is something wrong?” Sae asked as she joined them once again. 

“No! Sorry. It’s nothing.” Makoto shook her head. “They have plans so why don’t we just go do our shopping?” Makoto said to Sae. “Sorry guys. I’ll see you later.” Makoto turned and quickly walked away before anyone could stop her.

“Well, there she goes. I’m sorry. Akechi-kun I’ll see you later. You should tell me what’s got you in such a good mood the next time we work together.” Sae winked before she walked off. 

“There’s no way she knows...right?” Akira leaned in close to Goro. 

“I don’t actually know… maybe it’s some kind of prosecutor thing…” Goro looked troubled. “It won’t just be Makoto-chan who gets pulled out of this delusion, it’ll be Sae-san too. I just hope they’re both strong enough to lose him again.”

“You managed it.” Akira wrapped an arm around Goro to squeeze him close. 

“I have someone better to fill the void with.” Goro nudged Akira to let him go. “Let’s go rent a DVD and stay in tonight?” 

“We could pick up some Big Bang before we head home.” Akira suggested. 

“Sounds good.”

________________________________________________________________________

_** FUTABA ISHIKI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _12:24pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : what are you up to today?  
**Futaba** : heading to akiba with mom and dad.  
**Akira** : you want to meet up for lunch there?  
**Futaba** : i dunno. i guess. are you bringing goro?  
**Akira** : i was planning on it.  
**Futaba** : did you pop the big Q?  
**Akira** : i might have…  
**Futaba** : muwahahaha, alright. meet us at that game shop i like and we’ll figure out eats from there.  
**Akira** : why the evil laugh?  
**Futaba** : because mom and dad have been waiting for you to ask for weeks!  
**Futaba** : we gotta celebrate!  
**Akira** : oh god. i don’t think i can take it.  
**Akira** : can’t we just hang out and not bring up the engagement until later.  
**Futaba** : borrrrring.  
**Akira** : please?  
**Futaba** : fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.  
**Futaba** : you have to buy me a game though.  
**Akira** : i will buy you two games.  
**Futaba** : ooooo trying to appease me huh? deal.  
**Akira** : cool. see you soon.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira could see Futaba and her happy family from a block down. Her bright green sweater stood out in the crowd. She was talking with her mother excitedly about something he couldn’t make out. Before he and Goro could even get close to hear Sojiro spotted them so any other plans to be made went out the window as they approached with smiles. 

“Happy New Year to you all.” Goro greeted them. 

“And to you as well Goro-kun.” Wakaba smiled at him. “How has living with Akira-kun been? Is he leaving his clothes all over again?” 

“Of course he is. He’s lucky I don’t mind picking up after him.” Goro teased with a smile. “He should do a better job of clearing his pockets of anything he doesn’t want me to find though.” 

“Oooooooh?” Futaba grinned as she approached while wiggling her eyebrows. “What did you find?” 

“Nothing you need to worry about right now.” Goro flashed one of his best TV smiles and Akira was glad for it. Goro didn’t want to tell anyone either. There was no telling if it was because he wanted everyone back to being themselves first or if he was just shy. “So what’s going on here?” 

“Here to get a game, and if dad stops being stingy maaaaybe a limited edition box set of Neo-Featherman Ultra that comes with a pink Featherman MAX figure and all the accessories!” Futaba turned to Sojiro with a pleading look. When Sojiro didn’t budge Futaba turned to her mother. “Mom please?” 

“No way, you think I get supplemental grants with nothing but puppy eyes? Motion for funding this has been denied.” Wakaba shook her head. “You might want to look into getting part-time work before you think about feeding that addiction of yours.” 

“Gorooooooo-niiiiiii,” Futaba threw herself on him, “you’re like… my favorite brother. Pleaseeeeee?” 

“Maybe as a birthday gift.” Goro laughed, earning another groan from Futaba. 

“Hey come on, pick a normal game you want and then we can go to lunch. Since these two came up we can eat together.” Sojiro sighed. 

“Oooo, I vote curry!” Futaba put her hand up. “Dad makes the best stuff.” 

“Yeah, it goes well with his coffee.” Akira agreed. 

“Yeah, Sojiro made it for exactly that reason! Plus you know mom helped…” Futaba trailed off slowly.

“Futaba?” Sojiro questioned. 

“Helped improve the flavor!” Futaba finished quickly. “I can’t just decide on the one game. I’ll keep trying to pick stuff out. You’ll have to get it for me. I can’t go in there!” 

“Fine, fine. Wakaba, shall we?” Sojiro offered his arm to her, making her laugh before the two of them went into the store.

“You know Futaba,” Goro looked at her with a sad smile once the other two were gone, “you know just as well as I do that we have to move on.” 

“W-what’s that supposed to mean?” Futaba looked more than a little upset at Goro’s words. 

“Isn’t this dream going on a little too long?” Morgana asked from his place on Akira’s shoulder.

“Dream…?” Futaba looked sad suddenly as her eyes cast down to the floor. “But… no…” 

“You can figure it out.” Goro offered a sad smile.

“We’ll be waiting for you when you do.” Akira said but Futaba only looked more upset. 

“I don’t get it. Why can’t you just tell me?” Futaba sounded like she was about to cry before she let out a gasp. “What was that…?” Futaba whispered to herself. 

“Futaba, which one was it?” Sojiro called. 

“Coming!” Futaba shouted back. She spared one more look to the boys before she turned and rushed into the store. 

“I think that’s all we can do here.” Akira put his hands into his pockets. “Should we head home?” 

“Let’s go see a movie.” Goro suggested. “Just going right home all the time is depressing.” 

“Sure. As long as Mona can be quiet.” Akira teased the cat before they left to head back to the train to hit up a movie theatre somewhere.

_______________________________________________________________

“I’ve been doing some digging between visiting with our friends.” Goro said the evening before they were due to return to Maruki’s palace to face him. “In this world Kunikazu Okumura, Wakaba Ishiki, and Takeru Niijima never died.” Goro drew up a paper he had been looking at to give to Akira. “Kobayakawa is also alive at this time as well. Effectively this means I never murdered anyone.” 

“What about your mom?” Akira looked over the paper. “Hanahaki doesn’t exist here so…?” 

“I came across a piece of news that suggested she committed suicide by hanging instead.” Goro said grimmly. “Suffocation of a different sort. Shido still exists as well and is in prison but he’s the only one. His crime was attempting to overthrow the government.” 

“Weird…” Akira gazed over the paper he’d been handed but couldn’t really retain any of the information he was reading.

“The Phantom Thieves were indeed real here. We were causing a stir in this society as well, however you were never arrested.” Goro sat next to Akira. “This world has done wonders to eliminate any crimes we ever committed.” 

“Maruki likes me so I guess he wanted to give me, and by extension everyone else, a perfect world to live in.” Akira put the paper aside. “I guess he didn’t get Mona since he probably didn’t get that he’s a talking cat.” Akira shrugged. 

“I wonder how he’d affected others not related to the Thieves though? Maybe it’s something like a ripple effect. He started with us then it just moved along to other people slowly. Well, at least he was being honest when he told you he was making this world one we could live in peacefully.” Goro leaned his head against Akira. “Tell me the truth, was this ring really your doing or was it him?” 

“Why do you ask?” Akira suddenly began to sweat. 

“Because it’s a little too perfect.” Goro held up the hand he had the ring on. “And a few people insinuated about it.” Goro pushed himself off of Akira to look at him. “Well?” 

“I… I didn’t want to make you feel worse that night by telling you it was Maruki.” Akira admitted. “I do love you, and I like the idea of marrying you. I just didn’t know if we were ready for something like that.” Akira hung his head. “I’m sorry.” 

“You really are an idiot.” Goro sighed before reaching for Akira’s chin to tip his face up toward him. “A kind hearted fool. Thank you for trying to mind my feelings, but I do need to remind you I’m not made of glass. I can take more than one hit and keep going, or did you forget who I am?” 

“I know.” Akira sighed before he moved forward to press his face into Goro’s neck. “I just wanted to make it hurt a little less.” 

“I know.” Goro tangled his fingers into Akira’s hair as he pressed him closer. “Until we destroy this reality I’ll keep this on.” 

“Why?” Akira pulled back to look at Goro. 

“Because it’s my choice. I made it without being in Maruki’s haze,” Goro explained looking at the ring closely, “and I’m going to punch him in the face with it to make him regret making it in the first place.” 

Akira snorted at that line, unable to help himself as he pressed his face back into Goro’s neck, “Holy shit I love you so much.” 

“And I love you. Next time you plan to ask me to marry you, make it more romantic than me finding it in your pants.” Goro warned him. “I expect something deeply cliche or very personal.” Goro pushed Akira back just enough to give him a kiss. “Tomorrow we go to Maruki to face him together. Even if no one else comes.” 

“Right.” Akira agreed. “I want to see you punch him.” 

“I can promise you that you’ll see it.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i spent like three hours trying to put this up today. anyway, we're in the 40s now. this will be done updating soon. tel your friends! :D lol
> 
> preview: _“I sought you out because Akira trusted you and insisted I could talk to you. But you turned it around on me to try and manipulate me didn’t you?” Goro spat. “Breaking his trust was your first and your last mistake. I’ll make sure you regret it.” Goro was pissed and Akira was glad he wasn’t the only one wishing to beat Maruki’s ass right now._
> 
> _“I truly was worried about how you were holding up with Kurusu-kun in jail. I wanted to give you someone to speak with so you could unload your stress.” Maruki explained trying to sound as sincere as possible._
> 
> _“What a load of absolute bullshit. You’re just like any other adult in my life. Manipulative and self driven.” Goro glared at Maruki._


	41. I wonder if your therapist knows everything about me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> goro and akira face off against maruki while ann waits to see if the rest of the party remembers. can they make it in time or will they stay in this _perfect_ reality made for them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 🤩

The next morning Akira, Goro, and Morgana stood outside of the palace in Odaiba. They each looked up at the fuzzy outline of the palace as they readied themselves mentally for what they would have to do. No one had sent them any messages. There was every chance that they wouldn’t be there. The only one they could message was Ann to which they just asked her to be ready to talk to the others if they suddenly came around after all. They needed to know where to find them if there was a chance in hell that they broke free. 

“Looks like it’s just us for now.” Morgana looked up. “The outline is a lot clearer than before.” 

“That’s troubling to hear.” Goro frowned. “He’s getting stronger.” 

“Well, let’s hope we can do this with us.” Akira looked to Goro. “Can I suggest that if it looks like we’re going to die in there… we… uh--” 

“You want to throw in the towel if we can’t manage to beat him?” Goro looked at Akira from the side. 

“I know you hate the idea of living under someone’s thumb, but I’d rather live a lie with you rather than nothing at all.” Akira admitted. 

“You’d better make sure I’m properly knocked out before you make that suggestion to him. I don’t want to hear you surrender. Even if I never remember it.” Goro turned away from Akira to take out his phone. “Let’s go in.” 

_______________________________________________________

_** BE GAY DO CRIMES ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _12:54pm: **asexual gremlin** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**asexual gremlin** : hey guys? where are goro and akira?  
**ComissionsAreOpen** : I wish to know the same thing.  
**Driving Gay** : I’m… outside Leblanc with Ryuji and we’re both pretty confused.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain:** call me weird but we used to meet here a lot right? why is it closed?  
**asexual gremlin** : yeah. i remember dad had it as a coffee shop.  
**The Perfect Gay™** : No one knows where they are?  
**keysmash lesbain** : i do.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain:** where?  
**keysmash lesbain** : depends on if you guys are ready.  
**Driving Gay** : Where are they Ann?  
**keysmash lesbian** : are you guys happy with things as they are?  
**ComissionsAreOpen** : They asked me the same thing. What do you know?  
**keysmash lesbian** : that i wasn’t happy but i was trying to pretend i was.  
**keysmash lesbian** : but that was because things weren’t right. i knew they weren’t and when i accepted that suddenly i remembered everything.  
**Driving Gay** : What do we need to accept?  
**keysmash lesbian** : i think only you guys know the answer to that.  
**The Perfect Gay™** : Hm.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : am i the only one who feels like im running away from something super important?  
**ComissionsAreOpen** : …  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : ive been thinkin about it since they talked to me  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : like why does mona talk and why isnt it weird you know?  
**The Perfect Gay™** : Mona-chan…  
**The Perfect Gay™** : I think you’re right Ryuji-kun. When we were talking I felt like I saw something like a memory, but I didn’t understand it at the time.  
**The Perfect Gay™** : We were Phantom Thieves, but the palace ruler was my father…  
**keysmash lesbian** : you’re so close guys.  
**asexual gremlin** : i saw myself shouting i wouldn’t turn away from the truth…  
**asexual gremlin** : why am i so scared right now?  
**Driving Gay** : I know what you mean Futaba. I’m terrified right now and I don’t know why.  
**keysmash lesbian** : its scary and i can’t imagine how hard it is for you guys but you can do it.  
**asexual gremlin** : y-yeah. i don’t want to run away. if i do i’ll just get stuck with this gross heavy feeling in my chest.  
**CommissionsAreOpen** : I feel the same. Ann please help us.  
**Driving Gay** : No, we have to do this ourselves.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : if we dont figure this out soon were gunna lose them  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : its just a feelin i get and i hate feelin like this  
**asexual gremlin** : i won’t run away!  
**ComissionsAreOpen** : Ah.  
**ThePerfectGayTM** : Oh.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : shit  
**asexual gremlin** : …  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : ann  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : where are we meeting you?  
**keysmash lesbian** : odaiba. the stadium construction site.  
**The Perfect Gay™** : I’m on my way.  
**asexual gremlin** : i’m going over to leblanc right now you guys.  
**Driving Gay** : We’ll wait for you then head over together.  
**ComissionsAreOpen** : Are you already there Ann?  
**keysmash lesbian** : i’m on the train heading over. they asked me to stay outside in case you guys came around.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : were fuckin around alright  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : and im fuckin pissed at whatever did this!!!  
**keysmash lesbian** : good. stay mad and let’s go kick some ass.  
**The Perfect Gay™** : Yes!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

___________________________________________________

The palace trio made their way inside. Akira had assumed they would go the way they went the first time but upon entering the waiting room area an announcement told them that the auditorium was open and that Maruki was waiting for them there. Akira almost thanked the announcement for making it easier on them to track Maruki down but decided against it.

The fights before they could reach the auditorium were simple enough with Goro at their side. Akira didn’t want to imagine how much harder things would have been if they weren’t able to meet the resistance requirements against some of the shadows. 

“I want to try that thing you do.” Goro said after they surrounded a single downed foe. Akira gave him a confused look before Goro began to talk to the shadow as Akira did. After a short exchange of words the shadow remembered it’s true form then turned into a mask before joining with Goro. “Well then, not too hard to do.” Goro adjusted his mask. The shape was still his red mask but the color turned lavender. “This is the best thing to do as I haven’t seen the Velvet Room since all this started, have you?” 

“I haven’t.” Akira frowned. It would be trouble if the two of them couldn’t shuffle or fuse personas. They needed to be careful. “Let’s keep going.” Akira suggested continuing the lead the way he felt was right. 

They came across a nearby safe room for Akira to mark in his journal before they continued forward to the auditorium. It was dark inside and the middle of the room was clear but there was a certain feeling of electricity in the air that made the fine hairs on the back of Akira’s neck stand on end. 

“He’s in here.” Goro said probably feeling the same thing Akira was. “Let’s be careful.” 

Akira agreed silently before continuing forward toward the middle of the room. After going down a flight of stairs the lights suddenly flickered on to a scene Akira hadn’t been able to make out in the dark. Rows and rows of chairs filled with people in white clothes looked down at the three of them. Akira’s personal attention was drawn to the high backed chair where Sumire sat in her bright red coat with Maruki standing next to her. 

“I see you brought Akechi-kun with you.” Maruki noted. “I thought that might be the case of all of them. He’s very similar to you. He didn’t want to give me anything about a world he wished to live in until he was at his weakest. When you were in prison.” 

“I sought you out because Akira trusted you and insisted I could talk to you. But you turned it around on me to try and manipulate me didn’t you?” Goro spat. “Breaking his trust was your first and your last mistake. I’ll make sure you regret it.” Goro was pissed and Akira was glad he wasn’t the only one wishing to beat Maruki’s ass right now.

“I truly was worried about how you were holding up with Kurusu-kun in jail. I wanted to give you someone to speak with so you could unload your stress.” Maruki explained trying to sound as sincere as possible. 

“What a load of absolute _bullshit_. You’re just like any other adult in my life. Manipulative and self driven.” Goro glared at Maruki. 

“Well, I thank you for coming here anyway.” Maruki sighed. 

“What did you do to Sumire?!” Akira shouted. 

“She’s just sleeping. As I said I never had any intention of hurting her. It’s easier to settle her inner turmoil in her sleep.” Maruki looked over to Sumire. “I’ll have her remember her life as she wishes to live it once she’s ready.” 

“The life she wishes for huh?” Morgana questioned. “Why not give her one she doesn’t even realize she would want. You went and brought back so many dead loved ones. Why not her sister too?” 

“I can only make real what people wish for themselves.” Maruki shook his head.

“Regardless of what he can or can’t make real, this is just brainwashing people for his own satisfaction.” Goro sneered. 

“I realize that there are some who may look at my actions in such a way.” Maruki agreed bitterly. “But if my self-satisfaction leads to the happiness of thousands of others is it so bad?” 

“I liked you Maruki,” Morgana pointed, “but you went too far. You shouldn’t have started to mess with reality!” 

“Tell me, you saw your friends this week, how many of them seemed unhappy with their lives? I would guess none.” Maruki carried on without letting them answer. “This is the reality they wished for--” 

“Bullshit. This is the reality _you_ thought they wished for. Ann wasn’t happy. You took what she told you and tried to craft some magic dreamland out of it and she ended up more hurt than she had been after the shit with Kamoshida!” Akira cut Maruki off before he could keep talking. 

“What?” Maruki looked stunned. “Wait… I… I can fix it.” Maruki looked away from the trio before adjusting his hair and straightening his spine again to stand tall. “This is the ‘true’ reality. I just need more time to perfect it.”

“We don’t _want_ you to.” Morgana said firmly. “We’re perfectly happy living in the old reality. Sure it might have hurt a little here and there but it was the world we made all on our own!” 

“Please, I want you to understand that this world will be perfect. You wouldn’t even know something was wrong to begin with.” Maruki tried to take control of the conversation again. “I can make this reality perfect for you as well as your friends. I can put everything back the way it was before you realized anything was wrong.” 

“You mean like putting a fake version of my mother in my life? Or are you talking about imposing a false proposal on us?” Goro questioned. 

“Is it really false if you accepted that ring so readily Akechi-kun? I know you’re wearing it.” Maruki pointed at him. 

“Yes. I’m wearing it. I’m wearing it so when I punch you in the face you can feel it break your jaw!” Goro held up his tightened fist, the ring faintly visible through his white gloved hand. 

“So that’s your answer.” Maruki shook his head sadly. “What about you Kurusu-kun? For the sake of your friends, Yoshizawa-san included, won’t you accept this reality?” 

Akira could sense Goro and Morgana’s eyes on him. Even if they both told Maruki no it was obvious that Maruki was looking at Akira for a final answer. Honestly, Akira knew what to say, he just didn’t feel like rushing to say it was right. What Maruki was doing was disgusting. He couldn’t live in a reality where their memories were distorted, but he was really trying to do it from a place of good will. 

“I won’t accept your reality.” Akira said firmly. Suddenly Akira could make out a faint blue light that gathered before him to make the form of a butterfly before it faded away. Was that Lavenza?

“It seems you have your answer Maruki.” Goro said rather smugly. “Why don’t you come down these steps so I can teach you a lesson for trying to mess with reality without permission.” 

“I see…” Maruki looked troubled,” I still think there is a way for us to reach an understanding but not today.” 

“Going to run away again?” Morgana teased but then a faint and sad ‘no’ came from Maruki’s direction. “Yoshizawa?!” 

“You can’t be serious right?” Sumire stood up from her seat. How long had she been awake? “Please, senpai, I’m begging you. Please let me live as Kasumi!” 

“You can’t hide from the truth forever.” Goro shook his head. 

“Please, Yoshizawa, understand that this is for the best.” Akira tried to explain. 

“For the best?!” Sumire snapped. “Do you have any idea how painful it is to live knowing I killed her?! It’s my fault she’s dead! Why is it so bad to forget about that and live in a dream?! I can’t live a life like that!” Sumire shouted again before her clothes changed and she descended the steps dramatically to stand in front of them. “If you can’t accept this world willingly. I’ll do what I must to make you!” 

“Yoshizawa-san, don’t do this.” Goro took on a defensive stance. 

“I have to!” Sumire drew her weapon. 

“I don’t think she can be talked down right now.” Akira grew defensive as well. “Looks like we have to do this.” 

“Here she comes. Get ready.” Morgana warned them before Sumire sent out a dazzling attack that left Akira mildly blind.

Goro lept to Akira’s defense when Sumire summoned her persona to attack Akira while he was blinded. “It’s poor form to attack someone when they can’t see!” Goro warned her, meeting her rapier with his sword. Akira could hear the two of them exchange blows back and forth until the blindness faded and Akira was able to catch sight of Sumire taking a step back from Goro to catch her breath. 

She looked a bit worn out and was probably on her last leg already. She didn’t have nearly as much experience with fighting as they did. Sumire took a knee as she begged to understand why they were trying to push this reality on her. 

“I… I can’t do it.” Sumire shook her head. “I cannot go back to being Sumire.” Sumire stood once again and Akira had to admire how dedicated she was to trying to stay on her feet. “You saw it yourself, senpai. How it’s my fault my sister is…” Sumire trailed off before she sobbed. “Why don’t you understand?! You never lost anyone! Why can’t you even _try_ to see it from my point of view?!” 

“He might not understand but I do.” Goro stepped up. “I’ve lost people I loved and cared about. I took their life with my own hands and I had no one to blame but myself.” Goro held a fist over his heart. All Akira could assume was that he meant Wakaba. “I didn’t try to run from it though. I accepted my mistake and pressed on!” 

“I’m not as strong as you!” Sumeri shouted. 

“You haven’t even tried have you?!” Goro shot back with a snarl. “You gave up before you even tried to carry on because an easy way out from the pain presented itself right away. I know what it feels like to want to run away. But I have no time or pity for people who won’t even try to stand on their own and admit what they did!” 

“I can’t!” Sumire sobbed before Maruki descended from the stairs. 

“I can give you strength,” Maruki announced with his arms outstretched, “so you don’t have to suffer. Tell me, do you want your pain to end?” 

“I do.” Sumire looked to him with teary eyes. “Please.” 

“Then I’ll fulfill that desire. I’ll actilize that desire!” Maruki shouted with conviction before tentacles grew out of the floor and grabbed hold of Sumire. For a moment she struggled against it, the appearance of them was rather surprising, but then she relaxed and her mask vanished before a red, berserk, version of her persona appeared. 

“That power…” Goro gasped.

“Sadly, she has lost sight of herself. She is in pain.” Maruki shook her head. “But I will be her guide, and together we shall escape from the nightmare.” 

A voice came from Sumire’s persona denying returning to a reality where she was a murderer. Whatever the tentacles were doing it was making her stronger and making her persona take on more than just her rebellion. Then, with a snap of Maruki’s fingers, shadows appeared as well to round out their fight. 

“Shit,” Goro hissed, “I knew this wouldn’t be easy but I wasn’t expecting to fight her again.”

“We’ll have to be careful. Mona, keep an eye on our health.” Akira requested. 

“Will do.” Morgana swung his cutlass around to rest on his shoulder. “Just don’t get reckless.” 

Before any of them could move, Sumire's persona attacked one of the shadows, killing it, then healing itself. “It ate the shadow?” Goro looked worried. “We need to lay into it before it can heal itself again.” 

“Well, I see plenty of grappling places. We should try out that showtime attack.” Akira suggested. 

“Let’s weaken it some.” Goro said before their fight began. Every time they tried to kill a shadow before the berserk persona could eat it Maruki would just summon another to take its place. And any time they tried to do something about Maruki the tentacles would get in the way. “Damnit, at this rate we’re going to run out of energy before we can do anything meaningful.” Goro hissed. 

“It’s winding up a big attack!” Morgana warned them as Sumire’s persona drew back to charge up an attack. “Move!” 

“There’s no time!” Akira shouted before he rushed to Goro’s side to try and shield him with his body. 

“Idiot!” Goro snapped and then grabbed Akira to try and move him out of the way. “Don’t you dare die for me!”

Bright red light shot at them followed by the sound of running and a familiar voice crying out, “I don’t think so!” After the attack passed Akira looked up to see Ryuji and Yusuke standing in front of them, their weapons drawn up in a blocking motion with each of their personas hovering behind them. 

“ _ **Woo**_ , made it just in time.” Ryuji shook a hand out as if trying to get the feeling back. 

“You two shouldn’t go rushing in like that!” Ann’s voice from behind drew their attention back as the rest of the party rushed in to join them. “Calvary is here!”

“And here I was worried you guys were going to miss out on all the fun.” Morgana teased. 

“Apologies for making you wait so long. I’m glad you could hold out for our arrival.” Yusuke turned to look at Akira and Goro. “You don’t look too badly damaged.”

“Not for a lack of trying.” Morgana motioned at Maruki. 

“That’s…” Haru gasped. 

“Yoshizawa-san and Maruki-sensei.” Makoto said the names when Haru couldn’t. 

“There’s no time to really explain now. We need to subdue her persona and get her free!” Goro motioned at Sumire. “Skull, Queen, Panther, on me.” Goro motioned to be followed and started to run around the side to draw the attention of the shadows. 

“Fox can I get some cover fire?” Akira requested before Yusuke pulled out his rifle. “Noir, Mona, help me out with him.” Akira pointed at Maruki before he ran around the other direction to try getting in close to take out Maruki so he couldn’t keep summoning shadows. 

Even with everyone’s support Maruki’s tentacles did a good job of protecting him. The closest Akira was able to get was a cut on his jacket before one rather thick appendage wrapped around Akira then threw him into the stands of cognitive people. 

“Joker! Are you alright?!” Haru called out to him. 

“Peachy!” Akira got back up. He looked around for an idea of what to do to take down the tentacles before spotting a low beam he could connect to. “Crow!” Akira called to get his attention before he shot out his grapple to hook onto a beam and jump back down. 

Down below Goro watched Akira come closer before rushing to meet him and grab hold of his hand. As they had done with Shido before, the two of them swung in a circle around Maruki, the tentacles, and Sumire’s persona, unloading gunfire into everything they could before Goro let go to land on Sumire’s persona. He aimed into it’s head to unload another clip into the back of its head before jumping back out of the way as Akira and he both sent out a pair of curse attacks from Loki and Arsene.

This seemed to do the trick as Sumire’s persona collapsed and vanished. Without Sumire’s persona there Maruki’s tentacles vanished then let Sumire down carefully which left Maruki exposed. “You all threw away your happiness just to come here and…” Maruki took a step back. “How? It’s impossible.” Maruki was too busy looking at the floor to notice Goro rush in to land a strong punch right to his face. The force was enough to knock his glasses clean off and send Maruki back a few feet as well. 

“I’ve been waiting the whole fight to do that.” Goro laughed holding his fist up with a grin. 

Akira busied himself with making sure Sumire was okay but he didn’t need to reach for Goro to stop. Goro seemed to already know he shouldn’t venture too much further on his own with Sumire like she was. 

“So wait, Maruki’s the palace ruler?” Ryuji questioned. 

“That’s right.” Goro confirmed. “He’s the one who made you all the lovely little dream world you found yourselves in at the start of the new year.”

“I did all of this for your own joy.” Maruki defended himself before he spit out some blood. Goro’s punch really did a number. Damn Akira loved him. “I only wanted to grant your wishes so you could live in a painless world.” 

“Yeah well, you fucked up!” Ann stomped her foot. 

“I realize that I made a mistake with yours Takamaki-san, but I can fix that.” Maruki insisted but as he looked around he found that each person he met eyes with looked more pissed off than the next. “So, you all intend to deny this reality I made for you. If you want to fight me then so be it. If you plan on changing my heart then that’s fine too. But before that comes to pass I believe there’s still room for discussion here.” 

“Oh really? Shall I hit you again then?” Goro shifted his foot as if he was ready to attack Maruki again. 

“Not now. I believe that taking care of Yoshizawa-san is more important than settling things now. Don’t you?” Maruki motioned for Goro to turn around.

“So you’re going to run away again then? Well you can run off alone then. Yoshizawa will be staying with us.” Goro sneered. 

“I can see when I’m outnumbered.” Maruki shook his head. “I won’t try to take her, and I’d rather have a fair fight with you after you’ve recovered. The fight with her did no favors to your strength.” Maruki looked around at each of them. 

Sumire made a sound drawing attention to her which was just enough for Maruki to vanish from sight. “Damnit.” Goro hissed. “He’s gone.” 

“There’s still time.” Maruki said over the speakers. “February third. I’ll hear your final decision then. If your views don't align with mine by then, we will have no other choice but to fight. No matter how much I loathe that fact, I cannot give up what I’ve started. I swore on the day I lost everything that I would do whatever it took.”

“I can’t track him anymore.” Futaba touched the side of her goggles. “He’s gone.”

“I wish we could pursue him but I don’t think that’s a wise choice.” Makoto looked to Akira holding Sumire, and then to Goro. 

“Let’s get out of there. We gotta let Yoshizawa rest anyway.” Ryuji suggested.

“So it seems.” Yusuke agreed. “We should leave here and talk about what’s been going on. I think a few of us are more than a little confused right now.” 

“Let’s go to your apartment Goro.” Ann suggested. “We need to talk about what’s going on and get Yoshizawa-san somewhere safe.” 

“Right.” Akira agreed before he helped put Sumire on Ryuji’s back. Ryuji had way more energy to carry Sumire than Akira did. The party then made their way outside and silently traveled together to Goro’s apartment. 

Once they were inside they set Sumire to rest in the bedroom while the rest of them sat around the living room to speak. For a few minutes everyone sat in silence until Yusuke took his phone out. “The Nav is back and with it a palace visible in our reality.” 

“I know you guys told me we’d see it but I didn’t think it would be so clear.” Ann looked at Goro. “It was super surprising when I got closer to the building. I could hardly believe it. Does it mean reality is broken?” 

“In a way I suppose that it is.” Goro admitted. Goro then began to explain everything they knew so far while Akira went around giving everyone a drink. Once he was done he sat next to Goro to help fill in more gaps until they shared everything. 

“So Maruki-sensei altered our reality to make our dreams come true.” Haru looked troubled. “He was able to restore the dead with this power?” 

“Yes.” Goro confirmed. “Not just your father or Futaba’s mother, but my mother as well and even Makoto-chan’s father.” 

“He took what he gained from therapy sessions and applied that to the world he made.” Akira pushed his glasses up. “He made it so hanahaki never existed, but also made the mistake of not putting Shiho and Ann together.” 

“Yeah.” Ann brushed her fingers through her hair. “I felt like something was wrong right from the start but it took Goro and Akira helping me to figure out what it was.”

“I think we all benefited from their help.” Yusuke admitted. 

“There is something I want to ask and I’m going to be as direct as possible with it so I want the rest of you to do the same.” Goro took a quick look around the room to make sure he had everyone’s attention before he continued. “Until we drew you out from your fantasies you were generally all happy. For those that weren’t, Maruki seems to be very serious about taking your happiness into consideration to make alterations to this world he’d made for you. Maruki may have a distorted heart, it's not out of a place of evil. I have to ask, now that you know his intentions and are aware of the world he wishes to make, do you intend to accept his offer?” 

“What do you mean?” Yusuke questioned. 

“I’m asking if you’ll really fight him or if you’ll slack off to go back into the dream he made.” Goro explained with a firm tone. “Personally speaking, I’ve had quite enough of people pulling at my strings, trying to decide what my life means. I’m the only one allowed to decide that and I won’t settle for just letting Maruki control me. In my eyes it’s no better than Shido or that crazed control god.”

“I agree with Goro,” Akira said, “I don’t want to give in and let someone else choose my life for me. I’ve been pulled from place to place on the whim of that evil god. I finally had some control in my life before Maruki started to stick his fingers into it to try and ‘fix’ it.”

“I know that this isn’t an easy choice to make. We have until the third to get his treasure and from the outside his palace looks rather large. I don’t think we can wait more than a few days for answers.” Goro held his coffee tightly in his hands. “Just don’t answer on impulse. Think about it and be honest with yourselves.”

Silence hung heavily over the party before the sound of a floorboard creaking drew their attention to Sumire as she stepped out of the bedroom to look around at the party. She looked exhausted still, “I’m...sorry that I caused you all so much trouble.” Sumire bowed her head a little. 

“You don’t need to apologize!” Ann said quickly. “Why don’t you sit here?” Ann shuffled over to give Sumire a place to sit next to her. Once Sumire sat down she looked around again. 

“I… can’t believe what I tried to do to you all.” Sumire looked down at her lap and began to play with the hem of her jacket. “I genuinely cannot apologize enough for what happened.” 

“You deep into Maruki’s delusions.” Goro shook his head. “No one can blame you. Not many understand what kind of pain it is you’ve experienced either. How are you feeling?” 

“Physically I feel okay. Mentally… I’m all mixed up.” Sumire let out a sigh then looked up at Akira. “My memories are still really fuzzy, and I haven’t really processed everything properly yet. I think I’ll need some time to myself to really think things through. I have to figure out what I want to do with myself from here on.” 

“I don’t think you’re alone in that.” Akira nodded. “You’ll have time, everyone will. No one is going to be pushed any more than they already have. We just wanted to make sure you guys could make an informed choice.” 

“Yes…” Goro agreed but Akira could tell he didn’t really mean it. He didn’t want the others to really choose. He just wanted them to agree with fighting against Maruki. If they decided to help Maruki bring about this new world of his then it would be a very different fight going forward.

“I think those of us who want to fight against this reality should meet back up on the 12th.” Akira suggested. “That’s as much time as I feel comfortable giving to come to a decision. Goro’s right that the palace looks huge so if we’re going to change his heart we need time to get to his treasure.” Akira explained. “I won’t blame any of you if you decide you’d rather live in this reality, but if you actively stand in our way to try and stop us we will have to fight. I’m not going down without a fight.” 

“Agreed.” Goro nodded. 

“Well I already know I’m going to fight.” Ann crossed her legs. 

“I will be as well.” Morgana said from next to Akira. 

“Alright, alright,” Akira waved his hands, “let’s stop there. Saying it out loud here might make others feel obligated to agree. Make your own choices. We’ll meet outside of his palace on the 12th.” 

“Okay.” Ryuji agreed. “I guess we should head home for now?” 

“Yes.” Haru stood. “Yoshizawa-san, you look very tired. Can I offer you a ride home?” 

“I...would appreciate that.” Sumire stood with a nod and then bowed to the rest of the team. “I apologize again and thank you for helping me.” 

“Stop sweating the small stuff. You comin’ home with me Akira?” Futaba stood up.

“I probably should. I took a peek and it looks like my stuff isn’t here so it’s probably back in Leblanc. School starts tomorrow so I can’t exactly stay the night.” Akira let out a sigh.

“My guess is that the perception of you and I living together hinged on Boss and Wakaba being together.” Goro suggested. “You’re always welcome to bring some of your wardrobe here for real if you like.”

“I might. I love Boss but that futon is not very comfortable in the cold.” Akira pulled a face of discomfort at the thought. 

“Yeah, well, complain about it to his face.” Futaba motioned toward the door as Haru and Sumire made their way out. Ryuji followed Yusuke, Ann, and Futaba, leaving Akira to share a moment with Goro. 

“Are you going to be okay by yourself? I could leave Mona with you.” Akira poked the cat in question. 

“I’ll be fine.” Goro shook his head before he got up to stand next to Akira. “We’ll talk again later. I really think Futaba needs you with her when she goes home. Her mother won’t be there anymore and Boss might not even remember.” 

“You don’t think Sojiro could keep Wakaba alive?” Akira questioned. 

“I think that his dream is just to keep Futaba safe and happy.” Goro explained. “Just do me a favor and keep an eye on her?” 

“I’ll do my best.” Akira brushed Goro’s bangs aside to kiss his forehead.

“As if I’d be satisfied with that.” Goro rolled his eyes then drew Akira into a proper kiss. “Off you go now.” 

“Yes sir.” Akira gave a lazy salute then let Morgana into his bag before he headed out to meet with Futaba and head home.

___________________________________________________________

_** STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:52pm:_ **tiny pizza table __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**tiny pizza table** : mom’s gone.  
**T & Tea**: My father as well.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : Madarame is in prison again.  
**Pixar Mom** : It seems things have gone back to normal.  
**AkiraAkechi** : I’m sorry guys.  
**banana_hammock** : dont be  
**banana_hammock** : i prefer to know like you and goro said  
**GoroKurusu** : Even so, it wasn’t an easy choice to do this to you.  
**tiny pizza table:** tbf you lost your mom all over again too.  
**tiny pizza table** : we are a group of sad kids with dead parents.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : the ratio of living to dead parents is pretty high in this group isn’t it?  
**AkiraAkechi** : it’s pretty bad.  
**banana_hammock** : dont look at me  
**banana_hammock** : my dads just a piece of shit but hes alive  
**banana_hammock** : prolly  
**T & Tea**: So that would put us at about half and half?  
**AkiraAkechi** : goro, yusuke, futaba, makoto, haru… looks like more than half? do we even count mona?  
**Monamona** : yttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt  
**AkiraAkechi** : he says no. since igor is kind of his dad and totes alive? is lavenza his mom?  
**GoroKurusu** : This is a strange conversation I wish we weren’t having.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : ok i’ll change it. how about that ring goro? 👀  
**GoroKurusu** : Maruki made it in an attempt to get us to stay in his concocted reality. Akira lied about it at first, claiming it was his idea.  
**AkiraAkechi** : it was right after your mom vanished and i felt bad ok?  
**GoroKurusu** : I accepted the ring and his sloppy proposal at face value. I only figured out what was really going on when Sae-san asked me about what I was so happy about.  
**Pixar Mom** : Ooooooh, so that’s what sis was talking about.  
**GoroKurusu** : Yes. After learning the truth I’ve decided I’m going to continue to wear it so every time I punch Maruki in his stupid face he’ll feel it and regret it. 🙂  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : that story is one part horrifying, another part amazing and completely sounds like akira’s brand of disaster gay.  
**T & Tea**: It does, doesn’t it?  
**AkiraAkechi** : L I S T E N.  
**tiny pizza table** : hahahaa. laughing at that made me feel a little better.  
**AkiraAkechi** : i hate you all. i’m going back to inaba right now.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : It was a rather splendid ring.  
**GoroKurusu** : I almost bought that it was Akira’s plan when Ann said she helped him pick it out.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : what would you have done if he never figured it out akira?  
**AkiraAkechi** : uhhhhh pray that it didn’t vanish with this reality so i never needed to own up to the fact i had no plans.  
**GoroKurusu** : I’ve already warned him I expect something much more romantic on the real one.  
**AkiraAkechi** : can’t you ask first?  
**GoroKurusu** : I asked to date first. You can have the next one.  
**banana_hammock** : is the next big question about moving in together or kids?  
**AkiraAkechi** : goro already asked me to move in with him…  
**GoroKurusu** : Ryuji… shut up.  
**AkiraAkechi** : now i’m sad i’m at leblanc because i bet the face you’re making right now is amazing.  
**GoroKurusu** : You’ll never know.  
**GoroKurusu** : I’m going to bed now. Good night.  
**Pixar Mom** : Before I say goodnight I want to say I’ve decided to fight.  
**Pixar Mom** : I was going to wait until tomorrow to tell you but I couldn’t wait.  
**Pixar Mom** : I don’t want to live in a world where nothing bad ever happens.  
**T & Tea**: I feel the same. I cannot shut my eyes and pretend. If I fall in line with this reality than it’s hardly any better than my father trying to make me marry that awful man.  
**tiny pizza table** : i’ve been mega worried about the fact that this is supposed to be our dream world right? what happens when someone else’s dream overrides the other? who’s desire gets priority?  
**banana_hammock** : RIGHT?!  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : I didn’t think about that…  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : I too came to the conclusion that I would rather live in the real world.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : Forgive me for saying this but I’d rather exist in a timeline where I chose to embrace my love for Akira rather than sweep it under a rug like it never happened.  
**AkiraAkechi** : Yusuke. ;n;  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : Love is wondrous and I decide to embrace it in all its greatness and imperfections.  
**GoroKurusu** : You really are an artist with your words as much as you are with a brush.  
**GoroKurusu** : Akira I changed my mind. Even after we get out of sham reality I’m marrying you.  
**AkiraAkechi** : alkjhadsgljhsd EXCUSE ME?  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : aakjdhgkljs WAH?  
**GoroKurusu** : I’m sure you can read still.  
**AkiraAkechi** : I CAN BUT THAT’S KIND OF SUDDEN.  
**AkiraAkechi** : wait………………………………………………………..  
**AkiraAkechi** : i think i know what’s going on here….  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : ????????????  


_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:37pm:_ **Goro __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Goro** : I’m not joking just so we’re clear.  
**Akira** : uhhhhhhhhhhhhh wat  
**Akira** : is this because you’re paranoid about yusuke?  
**Goro** : We’re ignoring my concerns about Kitagawa.  
**Goro** : I’m sitting here alone in my apartment after having spent the last week with you around constantly and I miss you.  
**Akira** : 😟  
**Goro** : I was looking at this stupid fucking ring Maruki made and took it off only to realize I felt very...sad… after it wasn’t there.  
**Goro** : I know that asking this way is stupid, and I know I don’t have something to give you to show that I mean it but  
**Goro** : Will you marry me?  
**Akira** :  
**Goro** : Akira?  
**Goro** : I realize you are you so this silence is probably due to you screaming into a pillow and/or a cat but I would like an answer.  
**Akira** : grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr  
**Goro** : Mona tell him to answer or I’m going to break down the door to Leblanc.  
**Akira** : hjggggg  
**Goro** : I’ll give you five more minutes before I head over there.  
**Akira** : I’M FINE. PLEASE DON’T.  
**Goro** : Then answer me.  
**Akira** : dalkdsghjsadg  
**Goro** : Akira.  
**Akira** : I WILL. PLEASE DON’T COME HERE RIGHT NOW.  
**Akira** : I’M KIND OF FREAKING OUT.  
**Goro** : Dramatic.  
**Akira** : EXCUSE ME. I HAVE A VALID REASON.  
**Goro** : You didn’t freak out nearly this…. Wait.  
**Goro** : You’re straight faced right now aren’t you?  


**_ STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS _ **

**tiny pizza table** : it’s been almost an hour so i checked the audio at leblanc.  
**tiny pizza table** : akira are you ok?  
**tiny pizza table** : i heard distressed screaming.  
**AkiraAkechi** : WHY ARE YOU CHECKING THE AUDIO?  
**AkiraAkechi** : oh god my nam,e  
**AkiraAkechi** : i’m gunan have a stroke  
**tiny pizza table** : do i need to call for an ambulance?  
**AkiraAkechi** : NO. STOP LISTENING TO ME. I’M FINE.  


_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**Goro** : Nevermind.  
**Akira** : LISTEN.  
**Goro** : I’m listening.  
**Akira** : wait no thats not what i mean just  
**Akira** : stop  
**Goro** : If you want me to leave you alone I’ll go to bed then.  
**Akira** : NO I MEAN.  
**Akira** : UFCK  
**Akira** : do you have ANY idea how distressed i am right now?!  
**Goro** : Would you have rather said no?  
**Akira** : NO. YES IS GOOD. BUT FUCK THAT WAS OUT OF NOWHERE.  
**Goro** : I fail to see how it was out of nowhere.  
**Akira** : im gunna die  
**Akira** : too many emotions  
**Akira** : i’m vryin rithg now  
**Akira** : *crying  
**Akira** : **right  
**Goro** : I’m sorry.  
**Akira** : god i’m so tired now  
**Akira** : i’;m going to bde  
**Akira** : *i’m  
**Akira** : ** bed  
**Akira** : fuck you akechi  
**Goro** : 🤍  
**Akira** : sadgsdfh  
**Akira** : sdajklghsdkjh  
**Akira** : 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤  
**Akira** : FUCK  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS _ **

**tiny pizza table** : he’s been silent for a long time… i think he died.  
**GoroKurusu** : He went to bed.  
**banana_hammock** : what did you do?????  
**GoroKurusu** : 🙂  
**banana_hammock** : im scared?  
**Bob Ross is my Dad:** The question is do we want to know what happened?  
**GoroKurusu** : You’ll find out soon enough.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : Hm…  
**T & Tea**: I’m going to bed. Let me know what happened if you can!  
**Pixar Mom** : I’m also going to bed. Good night.  
**GoroKurusu** : Try to get some sleep everyone. 🙂  
**tiny pizza table** : yeah ryuji is right. that’s unnerving.  
**tiny pizza table** : also, pssssssssssssh, sleep who? i don’t know her.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : nighty!  
**_{The chat thread has been closed.}_**

Akira was out as soon as his head hit his pillow. The battle of the day then Goro's surprise proposal robbed him of any energy he thought he had. The last thing he had expected was to be drawn into a dream of blue. Almost as soon as he saw the chains he knew he was being drawn into the Velvet Room. He woke as he always did, face up at the ceiling though it wasn’t just a stark blackness, it was filled with camellias as it had been before the last fight against the evil god. 

“It’s been quite some time.” Lavenza’s voice called to Akira after he sat up. 

“Lady Lavenza.” Akira greeted her before he stood to approach the bars. “Seems like this is a thing again?” 

“Yes. Though it is not by your own cognition but that of the man holding your reality hostage.” Lavenza explained before she stepped to the left. “However, you are not alone here.” Lavenza explained.

“Akira?” Goro’s voice spoke from across the room where Akira could see him standing in prison clothes as well. “So it seems we’ve been called in.” 

“I apologize for not calling you sooner.” Lavenza stood in the middle between them. “I could not reach you until you held fast your free will and put belief in the bonds you made with your friends.” Lavenza explained. “You are both on the verge of grasping a potential reality once more.” 

“So what do we do now?” Goro asked before a bell rang in the distance. “What’s that?” 

“It took a long time for me to draw you both here. We have run out of time here.” Lavenza turned away from them. “We are beings who grant aid to humans as they carry out their will. So long as you hold your determination rightly we shall be here to help you on your path. Your friends have already made their decisions on this matter, I wish to speak with all of you together in one place if possible.” 

“How do you know they’ve decided?” Goro questioned. 

“Their wills of rebellions have all reached a new peak. I can see them from even this place.” Lavenza motioned around the Velvet Room.

“Where are we going to meet?” Akira asked. 

“It would be best to meet in a location easily reachable by all parties. Therefore, I suggest meeting at your school.” Lavenza explained. “With that decision made please rest. You have a long fight ahead of you.” 

“W-wait--” Goro demanded but it was too late. Akira’s vision was already blacking out and he could feel himself falling back into a deep sleep.

________________________________________________

_** STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _7:14am:_ **AkiraAkechi __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**AkiraAkechi** : Hello my lovely team who I love very much. How are we today?  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : sleepy.  
**banana_hammock** : ^^^  
**tiny pizza table** : getting ready for bed.  
**T & Tea**: I’m already at school! 😄  
**Pixar Mom** : As am I.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : I’m awake.  
**GoroKurusu** : I miss your coffee.  
**AkiraAkechi** : Wonderful. Can someone already at school steal some gym clothes or something? Maybe… three sets?  
**T & Tea**: Um.  
**Pixar Mom** : You realize I’m reading this right?  
**AkiraAkechi** : Yes that’s why I asked.  
**GoroKurusu** : Ignore him. He’s being a pain in the ass on purpose.  
**GoroKurusu** : Lavenza called us into the Velvet Room last night. She wants to speak with us in person at Shujin today.  
**Pixar Mom** : Oh. When?  
**AkiraAkechi** : No idea…  
**GoroKurusu** : We’ll have to play it by ear. Just be ready to head to Shujin as soon as someone spots her.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : I’ll keep my phone on hand.  
**AkiraAkechi** : see you guys at school.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

**_ ANN TAKAMAKI _ **

**__** **_{_ ** _10:35am:_ **Akira __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : ann help  
**Ann** : what did you do now?  
**Akira** : not what i did  
**Akira** : goro  
**Ann** : what did goro do?  
**Akira** : i’m going to screen shot something and show it to you.  
**Akira** : and beg you to PLEASE not tell ANYONE i showed you.  
**Ann** : i swear on my love for shiho i will keep this a secret between us.  
**Akira** : okay.  


**Akira has shared a photo.**

**Akira** : WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT NOISE YOU JUST MADE?  
**Ann** : I DON’T KNOW BUT OH MY GOD HE DID THAT?  
**Akira** : i’ve been riding on a high between cloud nine and fear of falling off said cloud since last night.  
**Akira** : what the fuck am i doing?  
**Ann** : you, sir. are going to marry a cute detective prince and have a good damn life is what you’re doing. holy fuck congrats!  
**Akira** : OK BUT HE SEMI ASKED BECAUSE YUSUKE WAS MAKING HIM UNCOMFORTABLE.  
**Ann** : akira  
**Ann** : akira no  
**Ann** : HE GAVE YOU ALL THAT STUFF ABOUT BEING SAD YOU WEREN’T THERE WITH HIM AND THAT’S WHAT YOU TAKE AWAY? FIRST THING HE SAID THIS MORNING WAS HE MISSED YOUR COFFEE.  
**Ann** : kawakami be damned. i’m going to shake sense into you if you say that again.  
**Akira** : so… you think it’s all serious and def because he loves me and stuff?  
**Ann** : YES.  
**Ann** : do you have any idea how draining it is to deal with you?  
**Ann** : i am going to cry.  
**Akira** : I’M SORRY. PLEASE DON’T.  
**Ann** : i s2g if you don’t let me help you plan this wedding i will end you.  
**Akira** : IT’S NOT JUST MY CALL.  
**Ann** : goro and i are like… bffs.  
**Akira** : god…  
**Akira** : this is really going to happen huh?  
**Ann** : yesssssssssssssssss.  
**Akira** : i need a nap.  
**Ann** : mood.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

The day dragged on after Akira’s chat with Ann. The teachers all seemed much happier about their lives, even the chalk chucking Ushimaru found a new appreciation for his job. It was almost scary. When it came time for lunch Akira and Ann left the class together to head to the cafeteria but before they could get further than a few steps from the door a glowing blue butterfly flitted past them. 

“That’s… not normal right?” Ann pointed as it flew away slowly. 

“I think that’s Lavenza.” Akira commented remembering the number of times she’d taken on a butterfly form to speak with him. “She might be leading us somewhere we can talk privately. Let’s follow it.” 

“I’ll let the others know it’s time to head over here.” Ann pulled out her phone to follow Akira as they rushed past Ryuji coming out of his class. 

“Hey where are you going?” Ryuji asked as he followed after them quickly. 

“We think it’s Lavenza.” Ann said, messaging the group chat to let Yusuke, Futaba, and Goro know it was time to get to the school. 

“What? Where?” Ryuji looked around wildly, probably trying to find the girl in blue. 

“The butterfly.” Akira pointed following her downstairs then across the courtyard to the next building. They kept up pace with it until it flew into the nurse’s office through the closed door. “Yeah that’s her.” 

“For real.” Ryuji nodded. “So what now?” 

“I’ll go in and check on her. You guys meet with Makoto to get the gym clothes to Yusuke, Futaba, and Goro.” Akira said before he went into the nurse’s office. As he entered the butterfly fluttered over one of the seats in the room before glowing a bright blue. As the light faded Lavenza sat on the sofa Maruki had normally sat on.

“It was Lady Lavenza. Good guess.” Morgana crawled out of Akira’s bag to jump to the back of one sofa before moving across the ground to jump up next to her. 

“Hello to both of you.” Lavenza greeted them with a soft smile, her unoccupied hand reaching out to give Morgana a pet. “You look healthy Morgana.” 

“Thanks. You look a little tired though.” Morgana commented as his head met with her hand. “Are you alright Lady Lavenza?” 

“Traveling in Maruki’s world is difficult for me.” Lavenza admitted. “I told you last night that I wished to speak with you about something. It would be best to do so with everyone present.” 

“In the nurse’s office?” Morgana questioned. He was probably wondering if it was best since this was pretty much Maruki’s home in the school. 

“Yes. This place is filled with the cognition of ‘bedrest.’ It makes it easier to maintain my existence in this reality.” Lavenza answered. “The exhaustion from such a feat is limited by this place’s cognition, so I may converse with you all here.”

“I see.” Morgana shifted around to loaf next to Lavanza. “Well, I’ll keep you company while Akira gets the others.” 

“Thank you Morgana.” Lavenza rested a hand on the top of his head before she dipped her head down and began to softly snore. 

“She’s sleeping…” Morgana noted, “this place is wearing her out. Hurry up and get the others.” 

“Okay, okay.” Akira waved his hand before he set his bag down on the sofa in front of him then left the room to find the others. 

Lunch was nearly over by the time everyone arrived at the school. They each took a turn changing into the Shujin gym uniform before they all went inside to the nurse’s office where Lavenza still sat snoring away with Morgana at her side. It was almost cute if the point of Lavenza’s being there wasn’t to probably tell them something horrible about Maruki.

“Man, people in this school are dennnnnse.” Futaba rolled her eyes walking into the room before she hushed herself. 

“Lady Lavenza,” Morgana stood up to shake her hand off of him, “it’s time to wake up.”

“It appears so.” Lavenza reached her hand up to her eye to rub the sleep away. “Thank you all for coming.” 

“No, thank _you,_ Lady Lavenza.” Morgana turned it around on her. 

“You are quite used to living among humans aren’t you Morgana?” Lavenza smiled as she gave him another pat then stood up. “Pleasantries aside I am here to talk about Maruki. I wish to explain the circumstances that led him to his power to alter reality as you know it, as well as the truth of his power.” 

“So you know something of it.” Makoto noted. 

“I admit that there will be a degree of speculation involved, however it will only be to a small extent.” Lavenza looked at her. “I would like to begin with this current reality. I believe that Maruki has altered the cognition of the masses by manipulating Mementos.” 

“Wait, Mementos is back?” Morgana looked alarmed. 

“Yes.” Lavenza nodded. “Mementos is the cognition of the masses given form. With that fact in hand we can assume that if that man is really controlling individuals’ cognitions then he has access to Mementos. This is the most logical reason for his ability to distort reality.” 

“We thought as much.” Morgana said. 

“That man’s control of cognition--let’s call it ‘actualization’-- is due to a persona.” Lavenza explained. 

“Wait… really?” Ryuji questioned. 

“That’s something else we started to think.” Goro noted. “Akira explained what happened to them in their first encounter with Maruki and it being a persona.” 

“That’s right.” Lavenza nodded. 

“But I thought persona users couldn’t get palaces?” Yusuke looked down at Morgana as he was the source of what they knew. 

“I believe that he’s able to have a palace and a persona due to his power.” Lavenza explained. “It’s impossible to tell when Maruki’s power began to manifest. He’s likely been subconsciously using his power for a long time already.” 

“That would explain Yoshizawa.” Akira touched a hand to his chin. “I met her not long after her sister died but I think she was already seeing herself as Kasumi.” 

“Subconscious or not he’s insanely powerful to be able to use his persona in the real world.” Morgana scratched behind his ear. “He’s was manipulating Yoshizawa for months…” 

“Assuming that Maruki’s persona is unique we still need to determine how he used that power on the entirety of Mementoes. Yoshizawa might have been one of the first he started with but it’s Mementos I’m worried about. Remember what happened the last time something had control of Mementos? There was a period of time where we just stopped existing.” Goro looked around the room.

“Whatever it is, this is on a whole different level than before. Yaldy was born in Mementos. The people made it themselves.” Futaba spoke up after a few seconds of silence. “Maruki didn’t just get made there. He took it over. When we were in his palace and I got a look at him I couldn’t get a good read on him at all. Like he was blocking my power.” 

“You are correct.” Lavenza shifted to hold her book closer to her. “It is my belief that Maruki has taken the place of that evil god.” Gasps erupted from the room as the school bell rang but no one moved. “The being in Mementos that you defeated was a false deity that the masses clung to. Once it was gone Maruki took over that position.” 

“So Maruki is effectively a god in this reality.” Goro summarized. “The fact that we are the ones who gained support for defeating the God of Control should have meant that people viewed us as their saviours. But we were skipped over and the masses turned to Maruki even though he did none of the work.”

Akira hummed as he thought about what they had done or not done in order to have Maruki beat them out in a battle of faith. There wasn’t any reason for the people to trust in Maruki so readily. “They didn’t need to trust in Maruki…” Akira said, gaining attention, “we chose him.” 

“What?” Ryuji raised an eyebrow. 

“Think about it. The people would have turned to us. We’re a bunch of tired mostly depressed teens. We all talked to Maruki at some point or another and told him our pain and what we wish had been different.” Akira motioned around the room. “Since we confided in him he used his power on us to then put himself in a position where he can control Mementos because we had relied on him.”

“That… makes sense.” Makoto frowned as she crossed her arms. “So we picked him and because of that he took over Mementos and it was all because of the counseling.”

“Teach me to recommend a therapist.” Akira shoved his hands into his pockets.

“There’s no way of knowing how many of those situations he made intentionally. Regardless of that the result is still the same here. The desire for his actualization was seeded within your hearts.” Lavenza stated. “I have no doubt that it was your own desires that led to their actualization.”

“He said that this was a world we’d wished for.” Ann frowned as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other. “But it wasn’t really right. Mine was totally horrible.” 

“It may be because his power is still awakening.” Lavenza explained. “There will be disturbances in this world until his power settles.”

“He used to work with mom.” Futaba said suddenly. “I remember now. There was a photo of him in the stuff we got back from Makoto’s sister. They were research fellows. So with the information he got from us, and the knowledge from my mom’s work… he really knows what he’s doing. Do we stand a chance?” 

“Whether or not we do or don’t we have to put a stop to him.” Akira said firmly. “We wouldn’t let the God of Control get away with what he wanted, we won’t back down from Maruki either. I mean… Goro already proved he can still bleed.” Akira motioned to Goro who couldn’t help the ever so slightly demented smile that crossed his expression. 

“You’re right about that.” Ryuji laughed. 

“I’m with you guys.” Futaba announced. “If this mess is our fault we totes have a responsibility to clean it up.” 

“Very well,” Lavenza smiled, “then I’ll proceed to my next point. As I mentioned some before this world is very unstable right now. This is all in part because Maruki is still growing into his power. The day the God of Control fused Mementos with the real world left a lasting effect on reality. After your efforts to destroy the evil god the two worlds were on a mend to return to their initial states. However, because of Maruki’s actualization the world has returned to a state before the separation could occur once again.”

“That would explain why we can see Maruki’s palace in Odaiba.” Goro ouched a curled finger to his chin. “Mementos and the real world are still stuck together which is how Maruki is imposing his desire on the world around us. This _is_ the Metaverse.” 

“That is the best way to put it.” Lavenza hugged her book close. “Even as we speak, Maruki is still influencing this world in places where the boundaries are blurred. The world as a whole has not yet fallen into his actualization but if he is left to his own devices it will eventually all come to fall under his control. If this comes to pass anyone within that world will become trapped and unable to awaken to the original one again.” 

“Even us?” Ann asked. 

“Yes. Even if you are all persona users it would be next to impossible to defy Maruki in a world under his control.” Lavenza turned to her. “To make myself clear, once the two worlds complete their fusion, there will be no chance for you to succeed in defeating him. You won’t even remember there was a mission in place to do so at all.” 

“Oh that’s **fantastic**.” Akira pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you have any idea how long we have before he manages to complete his fusion?” 

“I believe it will conclude in one month’s time.” Lavenza answered.

“Maruki told us he would talk to us again on February 3rd correct?” Haru looked around at the party. “Do you think he picked that date with the knowledge of it being when his actualization would be completed?” 

“It’s likely.” Makoto tightened her stance. “That would put our deadline to scout the path to the treasure by the 2nd then.” 

“He made it clear he’s ready to fight with us if we don’t see things his way.” Goro said. “When we send him the calling card he’ll be ready to try and stop us.” 

“Please leave the calling card to me.” Yusuke requested. “This is certain to be our final one. I’m going to pour my heart and soul into its creation.” 

“We’re counting on you Yusuke.” Akira flashed him a smile.

“I still have some unanswered questions about all this.” Goro pulled out his phone to show it around the room. “The palace ruler in the Nav is heavily censored.” 

“I noticed that.” Makoto frowned, taking out her own phone to look. “What’s the deal with that?” 

“My best guess is that it is a product of Maruki’s cognition.” Lavenza said. “He likely knew that you could infiltrate the Metaverse with the Nav and created a screen to protect his name with that knowledge. That being said, so long as he permits your existence, your method of infiltration will not entirely vanish.” 

“ _As long as he permits our existence_.” Akira repeated with a sigh. “I love when some reality-altering entity says ‘ _oh no. you guys are good. You can exist... **for now**._’ Really makes you appreciate what a good guy Maruki really is.” 

“You’re laying on some thick sarcasm.” Ryuji threw his arm around Akira’s shoulders. “Just think of it this way, Maruki’s the one screwing himself over by being the nice guy. If we really wanted his shit show to work he woulda gotten rid of us.” 

“You’re making it sound like Maruki secretly wants us to stop him.” Ann laughed. 

“I believe it’s more of a case of Maruki wanting to save us.” Goro shook his head. “I know it’s hard to believe but Maruki did say he wanted us to accept this world of his. No matter if we dislike this world of his or not we do mutually benefit from his actualization. He genuinely cares for each of us in some way or another after all.” 

“I can do without his method of caring.” Haru shook her head. 

“Let’s start on the infiltration tomorrow.” Ryuji withdrew his arm from Akira. “There’s no way we’re letting someone treat the world like his plaything, good intentions or not.” 

“What do we do about Yoshizawa-san?” Ann asked. “Do you think she’ll fight us?” 

“It’s hard to say.” Akira admitted. “She told me this morning she was going to need time to herself to think on what she wanted to do. At the very least she wasn’t screaming at me to accept Maruki’s deal. I think I’ll try to speak with her again to let her know what we’re doing.” 

“You think that’s wise?” Goro asked. 

“Maybe not but this involves her directly as well. If she decides to fight against us then that’s up to her, but if there’s a chance she’ll join us and decide to live her own life… I want to give her a shot.” 

“I believe that concludes my need for being here. I shall continue to watch over the both of you.” Lavenza looked at Goro then Akira. “Remember that the Velvet Room is at your disposal whenever you need it.”

“Thank you Lady Lavenza.” Morgana bowed his head to her before Lavenza vanished in a glow of bright blue light that faded into a butterfly. 

Akira watched the butterfly leave catching sight of red hair at the door before Lavenza melded through it. So Sumire had been listening to them. It would make talking with her easier at least. Akira pretended not to see anything and turned his attention back to the party. 

“Tomorrow after school we’ll meet up in Odaiba. Goro and I will go check out Iwai and Takemi’s for supplies after school today.” Akira explained the plan. “I’ll even try cooking up some extra curry for the palace jaunt tomorrow. Make sure you all get some rest before tomorrow.”

“Sounds like I’m eating at Leblanc tonight.” Goro smirked. 

“You could stay the night too if you like.” Akira winked before Futaba groaned. 

“I’m going home!” Futaba announced throwing her hands into the air before leaving the office.

____________________________________________________

After a short shopping trip to Iwai’s store and Takemi’s office Goro, Akira, and Morgana returned to Leblanc to find Sojiro cleaning up after a huge rush of people. Apparently in this world Maruki made Sojiro’s cafe was insanely popular. It was kind of nice but at the same time Sojiro was just one man running the place all by himself.

Goro and Akira put on a couple aprons to help clean up. Once they were finished Sojiro decided he was going to go home and left Akira to finish closing up the shop. Once they were alone Akira started to cook curry for the team at the same time he brewed some coffee for himself and Goro. 

“So she was listening?” Goro questioned Akira after he sat down at the counter. He placed his apron on the chair next to him as he waited for Akira to answer. Akira had told Goro he saw Sumire at the door before they left the nurse’s office earlier. “Do you plan to call her?” 

“Probably. We don’t have time to try meeting up before we go in tomorrow.” Akira set the curry to simmer then turned to his coffee making. “At least she knows what we’re--” Akira paused when the shop door opened. He turned to inform the customer they were actually closed but when he looked he found it was Sumire that had entered the cafe. 

“Yoshizawa-san…” Goro said after a few moments, “why don’t you have a seat? We were just wondering how to get in touch with you.”

“I’m sorry for coming over so late.” Sumire bowed before she took a seat. Akira pulled down another coffee cup before he poured a cup for her as well. 

“You don’t need to apologize.” Akira shook his head. “I’m glad you came. I was worried I might not be able to get to talk to you before tomorrow.” 

Sumire nodded softly before she took a drink of the coffee. Her expression lightened up a little as she looked down at the mug. “It’s delicious.” 

“Yes, he does make a rather good cup of coffee. His curry isn’t bad either.” Goro teased. 

“Shush you.” Akira tapped Goro’s shoulder playfully. 

“Would you mind if I…” Sumire looked up at Akira then to Goro, “I need to get something off my chest.” 

“Should I leave?” Goro asked. 

“It’s fine.” Sumire shook her head. “To tell the truth, I saw you all go into the nurse’s office today, and I sort of eavesdropped on your conversation.” Sumire admitted what they already knew. Akira decided not to bring up that he’d seen her. She was probably already at the end of her rope and any teasing wouldn’t go well. “You all have found the path you want to take, and you’re following it with such confidence… On the other hand, I’m...I’m just running from the truth.” Sumire wrapped her hands around her coffee cup. “I couldn’t handle the fact Kasumi died because of me. My memories are still a little hazy, but even after I remembered I’m Sumire I didn’t want to accept it. I was still running from the reality where Kasumi was gone. Where I had to live for Kasumi rather than as her.” 

“Do you still want to run?” Akira asked. 

“I don’t.” Sumire admitted surprising Akira a little. “Listening to Akechi-san helped me some too. He was right about me. And I realized something else when I saw you all striving to push onward. I realized I can’t keep running like this. It’s hard to know what to do with Kasumi gone though… what should I do?” Sumire looked up from her coffee to Akira, Goro, and Morgana.

“We can’t tell you that answer.” Goro shook his head then took a drink. 

“You have to decide on your own.” Akira agreed. 

“Whatever you decide to do, I know you’ll choose well.” Morgana said.

Sumire looked around at each of them with a bit of surprise before she let out a sigh, “You all can be awfully firm sometimes, but you’re right.” Sumire stared at Akira for a minute before she stood. “I really have to thank you for allowing me to unload all of this on you.” 

“Well, to be fair, our mutual therapist is currently trying to impose a different reality on the world and probably not taking appointments.” Akira joked which seemed to land well with Goro as he snorted into his cup. 

Sumire laughed a little as well before she spoke, “I’m still not completely sure what I should do. I plan to think about it more. I have to figure out what I want to do with my life now.” Sumire bowed. “You’re going to his palace tomorrow right?” 

“That’s right.” Goro set his coffee down.

“I’ll try to reach my decision by then.” Sumire looked at Akira. “Thank you so much for all your support. Even after you learned the truth about me.” 

“You’re still you even with a different name.” Akira smiled then pushed his glasses up his nose a little. “I think you look better as yourself.” 

“Senpai…” Sumire’s face flushed a shade of red that nearly matched her face, “thank you.” Sumire bowed again. “I-I should head home. I’ll see you at school tomorrow!” Very quickly she gathered up her things then rushed out the door without another look to them.

“Please tell me she at the very least knows you’re not interested in women.” Goro said after a long silence. 

“Huh?” Akira turned to Goro. 

“I can’t believe I’m in love with an idiot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my favorite part of this was actually emulating my own proposal. imagine sittin' around hangin' out then suddenly your bestie and you start talkin' about marriage and stuff and the next thing you know you're sitting here crying because you just got an honest proposal. it was only kind of distressing and i only cried about it all night.
> 
> it's not a bad one, it's just unique okay?! i gotta clean or something. happy update. three left.
> 
> preview:  
>  _“I agree that would be our best course of action.” Goro nodded. “We’ll head into the deepest part of Mementos and find where Maruki has laid his roots and pull them out.”_
> 
> _“Suddenly I feel like we’re performing hanahaki surgery.” Akira frowned._
> 
> _“I suppose we could look at it that way. This fantasy Maruki has constructed is flowery and sweet smelling. However there’s no telling how deadly this could truly turn out to be.” Yusuke hummed. He had a point. No matter how nice Maruki’s world looked on the surface, it was still in the air what happened to the people in it and who’s desires were more important than others._


	42. i’m here at the beginning of the end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sumire decides that she's going to join the team. after a rough start she fits in with the phantom thieves perfectly. after hitting a 'wall' in maruki's palace they retreat to plan a mementos trip. but mementos doesn't look how they expected it too. more than just jose's flowers litter the human cognition now. why?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just woke up

_** SUMIRE YOSHIZAWA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _11:14pm: **Sumire** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Sumire** : I’m sorry I left so suddenly…  
**Sumire** : I just… um…  
**Sumire** : Please tell Akechi-san I’m sorry…  
**Sumire** : Okay good night!!!  
**Sumire** : （//･_･//)  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** BE GAY DO CRIMES ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:06am: **keysmash lesbian** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**keysmash lesbian** : has anyone seen akira yet today?  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : he’s not in class?  
**keysmash lesbian** : no. i’m getting worried.  
**coffee gay** : He’s fine.  
**coffee gay** : He’s just running late. My fault.  
**asexual gremlin** : it’s… like ultra late. wtf you two?  
**coffee gay** : 🙂  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : not this again  
**disaster gay** : STOP.  
**coffee gay** : 🙂  
**disaster gay** : I HATE YOU.  
**coffee gay** : 🤍  
**The Perfect Gay™** : You two are cute.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : i wish i could be as relaxed as haru  
**The Perfect Gay™** : Relaxed?  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : i mean like… not really know what they mean?  
**The Perfect Gay™** : Do I come off as airheaded?  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : NO  
**The Perfect Gay™** : 🙂  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : i fucked up  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : harusama im so fucking sorry  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : please dont axe me  
**The Perfect Gay™** : 💜  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : IM GUNNA DIE  
**ComissionsAreOpen** : Akira please take a video of the incident so we may all witness Ryuji’s death.  
**disaster gay** : as soon as i get to school.  
**keysmash lesbian** : i’ll get another angle!  
**Driving Gay** : I will as well.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : WHY ARE NONE OF YOU GOING TO HELP ME?  
**disaster gay:** because you fucked up.  
**ComissionsAreOpen** : You fucked up.  
**coffee gay** : Because you fucked up.  
**Driving Gay** : You fucked up.  
**asexual gremlin** : you fucked up BIG TIME.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : I SUDDENLY CANT MAKE IT TO THE PALACE TODAY SORRY GUYS  
**asexual gremlin** : yeah because you’ll be in the hospital.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

After school was over the party met up outside of Maruki’s palace. After a quick rehash of when they needed to route to the treasure they went inside. As they approached the entrance to the palace they found Sumire standing there waiting for them.

“Hello, everyone.” Sumire turned to greet them. 

“Really hope you’re here to join us and not fight us again.” Ryuji said first, earning a hard nudge from Makoto. “Ow! We’re all thinkin’ it!” 

“You’re all going to fight Maruki-sensei right?” Sumire asked. “Please allow me to join you!” 

“I’m not against it but…” Akira looked her over, “I don’t know if I feel comfortable bringing someone along you may not be able to fight. We can’t protect you all the time.” 

“Please?” Sumire begged. “I’m done running away!” Sumire reached into her pocket to pull out a hair tie then tie her hair up in a ponytail. As she did her clothes burned away in a familiar blue and white fire to reveal her Phantom Thief outfit. “I can’t keep relying on people all the time. I’ve decided that I will live my life as Sumire!” 

“Color me impressed.” Morgana grinned. 

“It appears she’ll be quite able to defend herself.” Goro noted. 

“Yeah, I think she’ll do just fine here.” Ryuji rolled his shoulder.

“Alright, looks like you’ll be able to fight.” Akira agreed. 

“Thank you!” Sumire clapped her hands together. 

“Sounds like it’s codename time!” Futaba raised her hand. “Who’s got a _good_ idea. I’m watching you Ryuji.” 

“What?” Ryuji looked offended. “You expect me to say leotard or something?” 

“Yes.” Futaba said in a deadpan voice. 

“Hmm, Joker, you got any ideas?” Ann questioned. “You’ve been the one to come up with most of ours.” 

“Uhhhhhh,” Akira scratched under his chin as he thought. 

“Violet.” Goro said after an extended pause. 

“Ooooh! Sumire does mean Violet in English.” Ann gasped excitedly. “I think that sounds awesome. What about you?” 

“Violet… I like it!” Sumire agreed with a smile. “I’ll use that name then. Thank you! Uhhh, I’ll have to learn your names.” Sumire lightly knocked on the top of her head. 

“I’ll tell ya on the way up.” Ryuji pointed to the elevator before the party headed inside.

They party had only just made their way into the area leading back to the auditorium, and area Futaba noted, when Sumire’s costume suddenly turned back into her normal clothes. “Huh?” Sumire looked at herself. 

“Unstable?” Goro questioned. 

In another flash of fire Sumire’s clothes turned back into her thief outfit and that was when Akira began to worry. Would she be able to summon her persona like this? Akira wanted to suggest that they turn back and have Sumire wait there but he got the distinct feeling she would come inside again anyway. They couldn’t afford to have someone waiting outside with her to babysit. They needed to take the chance that Sumire really could still fight.

“Let’s keep going.” Akira motioned for the party to follow. 

“Oh-whoa!” Futaba touched her goggles. “Enemies approaching! A lot of them.”

“Of course. Let’s clear out of here before they arrive.” Goro suggested before they all began to run toward their destination. As they rushed up the stairs suddenly long armed shadows with Maruki’s hair style dropped down from above them and encircled Sumire. 

“Violet!” Yusuke called for her right before Sumire motioned to pull her mask off and called for her persona. However as she stood there and waited, the shadows patiently bobbing around her, nothing happened. 

“Her persona isn’t--” Morgana said what they could all see. Her persona wasn’t coming. 

“Let’s help.” Ryuji said, rushing forward with Goro until Sumire demanded they stop. 

“Please stay back!” Sumire shouted. “I appreciate it, but allow me to do this. I decided to stand on my own and fight, so it’s time I stop being helpless!” Sumire balled her hands into fists as she continued to speak but this time it didn’t sound like it was directed at them. “I hung my head low and took your hand, but I knew all along that deep down that pretending to be Kasumi wasn’t the right way.” Sumire reached up to her mask. It was hard to see from the angle Akira was standing at but it was obvious she was having some trouble pulling her mask off.

She made sounds of pain as her body tensed up and she pulled until the familiar sick sound of flesh ripping could be heard. There was no immediate summoning though, “the weak and insecure Sumire dies today!” Sumire shouted as she finally threw her mask off. Blood dripped to the floor as her speech continued. “You were the only one who stayed true to yourself! Come to me, Cendrillon!” Sumire extended her hand to the air. “If you don’t answer my call now how else can we make our dream come true?!” 

Suddenly Akira understood who Sumire was talking to. Yes it should have been obvious that it was her persona, but the way she spoke to it was different than anything Akira had witnessed so far. She didn’t just accept her persona as part of herself, she saw her persona as her sister as well. Maybe it was the truth. There were stranger things they had seen before. For her persona to actually be the soul of her dead sister wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility.

“I think…” Akira paused as Sumire’s proper awakening grew into a strong wind that whipped past them all as the shadows around her finally sank to the floor and took their proper fighting form, “she’s okay now.” As with everyone else during their first proper awakenings, Sumire's persona hovered behind her waiting for the fight to actually start.

“Then let us provide back-up shall we Joker?” Goro questioned touching his mask carefully as it shifted to a red color. 

“Let’s do it, Crow.” Akira joined him before the fight properly started. More shadows appeared behind the party calling everyone else to deal with that threat and break them into fighting on two fronts. 

The fight didn’t actually last too long when the first bless attacks from Sumire and Goro downed each of the skulls allowing for the team to go all out right away. After a short all out attack the fight was over and everyone gathered around Sumire. “I’m sorry for troubling you all. I’ll be okay!” 

“I’m glad you figured it out, Violet.” Akira flashed a smile. 

“You were as impressive as always out there, Violet!” Morgana did a little excited bounce. 

“Thank you! I will have a lot to learn but I’ll try my best not to slow you down!” Sumire turned to everyone to smile. “Please be patient with me.” 

“Please, dealing with Joker hiding his hanahaki for the last year has made all of us more patient than we care to admit.” Goro let out an irritated sigh. 

“H-hanahaki?” Sumire paled suddenly. “Does that mean… is this reality keeping you alive?” Sumire held her hands to her face. 

“Huh?” Akira blinked before the pieces of what was going on finally clicked together in his head. “Oh! No. Got that out like… uh… two months ago?” Akira looked at Goro as he tried to do the mental math quickly. “What day did that happen?” 

“November 3rd, I believe.” Goro inspected his glove as if trying to pretend he was bored. 

“Right, so more than two months ago.” Akira explained looking back at Sumire. “I’ll be fine when we fix this world. Promise.” 

“There’s no time to talk about this. Not here anyway. Let’s press on.” Goro cut in before turning to walk away. 

“R-right!” Sumire agreed before she quickly followed Goro then the rest of the team followed. 

__________________________________________________________

_** STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:14pm:_ **banana_hammock __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**banana_hammock** : marukis palace FUCKIN SUCKS  
**AkiraAkechi** : mood.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : we should add sumire in here  
**AkiraAkechi** : oh yeah! i got it.  
**GoroKurusu** : This should be good.  
**banana_hammock** : ?????  


_**{** 9:16pm: **Sumire Yoshizawa** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _9:16pm: **Sumire Yoshizawa** has joined the thread **}**_

**Sumire** : Hello!!!  
**Sumire** : Thank you for inviting me to the chat!!!  
**Pixar Mom** : I’m suddenly embarrassed about these chat names again…  
**tiny pizza table:** shhhhh. they’re all perfect just like our team.  
**tiny pizza table** : sumire-chan i’ll make sure to add you to the ‘non-phantom thieves’ chat later.  
**tiny pizza table** : for nooooooow……………….  
**tiny pizza table** : i’m futaba and you need a nickname  
**banana_hammock** : ryuji here!  
**banana_hammock** : what about front flip for style?  
**tiny pizza table** : shit… that’s good.  


**tiny pizza table has changed Sumire’s name to Front flip for style.**

**Front flip for style** : Thank you!!!  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : ann!  
**Pixar Mom** : Makoto.  
**T & Tea**: I’m Haru!  
**GoroKurusu** : I think my name should speak for itself.  
**AkiraAkechi** : ok but… does it? i think it might be confusing...  
**Front flip for style** : Um. In order... Akechi-san and Kurusu-senpai???  
**GoroKurusu** : Correct.  
**AkiraAkechi** : she’s amazing.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : I’m Yusuke.  
**nekomimi mascot** : mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm  
**AkiraAkechi** : that’s morgana.  
**Front flip for style** : 😀  
**GoroKurusu** : Let’s recount what we learned today.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : we learned that akira thinks his body is a window. and that he likes to block the tv.  
**AkiraAkechi** : LISTEN.  
**GoroKurusu** : I’m listening.  
**AkiraAkechi** : sadl;kghds STOP THAT.  
**banana_hammock** : hes like a cat  
**AkiraAkechi** : i… can’t argue with that. shit.  
**Front flip for style** : We learned we have to go into a place you called Mementos to sever the cables stopping us from progressing further into his palace…  
**GoroKurusu** : Right. We’ll head back into the depths there and see what is going on.  
**Pixar Mom** : Lavenza did say he was using Mementos… I just didn’t think it would be in such a way.  
**AkiraAkechi** : at least we already got to the bottom of there.  
**Front flip for style** : I’m interested to see what Mementos is like…  
**tiny pizza table** : creepy.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : dark.  
**banana_hammock** : reminds me of spaghetti  
**GoroKusuru** : … why?  
**banana_hammock** : all those red ropes and stuff!  
**AkiraAkechi** : no he has a point goro.  
**GoroKurusu** : …  
**GoroKurusu** : Those ‘ropes’ were literally pulsing with “blood” from the people’s cognition…  
**banana_hammock** : wiggly spaghetti.  
**T & Tea**: I can see where it’s coming from but…  
**Pixar Mom** : Please never refer to Mementos veins as spaghetti ever again.  
**AkiraAkechi** : i’m still missing star stamps.  
**GoroKurusu** : No.  
**AkiraAkechi** : BUT GORO!!  
**GoroKurusu** : Get some good sleep tonight everyone. Tomorrow we go to Mementos.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** BE GAY DO CRIMES ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:14am: **disaster gay** has started a new chat thread **}**_

_**{** 9:16am: **Sumire Yoshizawa** has joined the group **}**_

**_{_ ** _9:16am: **Sumire Yoshizawa** has joined the thread **}**_

**disaster gay** : my turn today. where is ann?  
**keysmash lesbian** : i have a fever today. | ✖ ﹏ ✖ |  
**asexual gremlin** : nooooo not ann!  
**disaster gay** : we should wait until ann is better to do anything then.  
**coffee gay** : I agree. We don’t know what’s down there and missing even one person could be dangerous.  
**ComissionsAreOpen** : We still have plenty of time at least. Please get better soon Ann.  
**keysmash lesbian:** thaaaaaanks.  
**disaster gay** : i’ll bring you some of takemi’s meds later.  
**disaster gay** : these are like… properly tested and junk so don’t worry about coughing up blood.  
**disaster gay** : that was just be trying to keep up with running the team.  
**keysmash lesbian** : i trust you. i’, gunna bap nao  
**Driving Gay** : It seems like we’ll have some free time then.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : im gunna hit the gym  
**The Perfect Gay™** : I’ll be tending the garden! We almost have a new batch of tomatoes!  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : actually i can help you with them since akira will be busy with ann  
**The Perfect Gay™** : I would appreciate that Ryuji-kun!  
**Driving Gay** : No question about what Ryuji’s motives are.  
**disaster gay** : haru did give him a black eye yesterday…  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : shut up!  
**Sumire** : Kurusu-senpai could I come with you to bring Takamaki-senpai the medication?  
**disaster gay** : sure. i’ll meet you outside of the school before we head out.  
**coffee gay** : I’ll meet you outside your school and go along as well. Do you already have the medication with you?  
**disaster gay** : i might.  
**disaster gay** : IT’S COLD SEASON OK?  
**coffee gay** : I’m not going to berate you. I think it’s a good idea.  
**disaster gay** : (^・ω・^ )  
**disaster gay** : okay see you later.  
**Sumire** : I’ll see you after school Akechi-san!  
**asexual gremlin** : i know what to do here…  


**asexual gremlin has changed Sumire’s name to RibbonPrincess.**

**RibbonPrincess** : Thank you Futaba-senpai!!!  
**asexual gremlin** : whoa sumire-chan out here figuring us all out.  
**RibbonPrincess** : I sort of figured it out based on typing quirks and context...  
**CommissionsAreOpen** : Very good.  
**RibbonPrincess** : So this is the ‘non-Phantom Thieves’ chat you mentioned last night?  
**disaster gay** : yeah.  
**disaster gay** : these are the main two we use.  
**RibbonPrincess** : I understand!!!  
**coffee gay** : Even though we try to keep topics seperate things bleed over. Often.  
**The Perfect Gay™** : It’s still fun. 🙂  
**disaster gay** : alright. let’s take a few days to get ann better and wrap up any remaining loose ends.  
**coffee gay** : Right. I’ll see you after school.  
**disaster gay** : 🖤  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Once the bell rang to signal the end of the day Akira made his way outside to wait for Sumire. His eyes were down on his phone when he felt someone tap his shoulder that wasn’t Morgana. Akira turned his eyes to look at Sumire standing in her red scarf and glasses. 

“Hello senpai!” Sumire greeted him. “Looks like Akechi-san isn’t here yet.”

“Yeah, there’s a dozen things he could be doing before heading over here.” Akira put his phone away. 

“You and Akechi-san are quite close aren’t you?” Sumire questioned looking up at Akira with a smile.

“Yeah,” Akira set his hands in his pockets as Sumire leaned against a wall to wait with him, “it was a rough start but by the end things worked out. I gotta say I’m lucky to have him.” 

“I’m still surprised Akechi-san is one of you.” Sumire admitted. “I thought for the longest time that he was trying to arrest you? When we talked at the cafe in Kichijoji was he part of your group?” 

“Sorta? He was claiming he was just consulting and keeping an eye on us so we didn’t make more of a mess of things or something.” Akira tried to explain. “Like, not a direct quote but pretty much, ‘I’m going to have to keep an eye on you so you don’t break the law, but also we might have to a little because these adults are shitty.’ That didn’t last all that long though.” 

“Didn’t last long?” Sumire tipped her head to one side. 

“Around the time we went into Futaba’s palace, before she awakened to her persona, I think he was already coming around to actually being a part of us officially, but then we went to the beach and as far as he’s told me that was about when he decided he was on our side.” Akira tried to explain what he could remember. “Like, he realized he wanted to be a Phantom Thief not by just association but by choice. Then the mess with Okumura’s palace happened.”

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, when we went to Hawaii the cabin pressure of the flight really messed up my hanahaki. So yeah, don’t get on a flight if you have hanahaki. Fun fact. Anyway, it was so bad after I got back I couldn’t even really run. Goro ended up taking over leadership for Okumura’s palace entirely. I wasn’t even supposed to go inside. It would have been bad if I’d passed out in the middle of a fight.” 

“How long did you have your hanahaki?” Sumire looked worried. 

“Uhmm, something like seven months give or take?” Akira shrugged. “Came out in November after a scary near death.” 

“What happened? If you don’t mind me asking.” 

“That story is a bit more long and complicated than I want to tell right now.” Akira looked up at the sky. 

“The short version is that I was trying to make him hate me so he’d kill me, but little did I know trying to commit to that plan was going to kill _him_ instead.” Goro’s voice spoke up as he showed himself. He’d been hiding nearby in the alley across from them. How long had he been listening to them talk? “I told him I hated him, he started to throw up camellia flowers, so I took it back.”

“A-Akechi-san!” Sumire jumped up suddenly from the wall.

“Yeah, I remember you saying something about how you were lying and then you called me an idiot before you said you loved me?” Akira scratched the side of his head. 

“To be fair, you should have told me you could get hanahaki. I would have dealt with it much sooner.” Goro approached them finally to pull Akira into a deep kiss. He seemed to be making a show of it as he pressed Akira against the wall causing Morgana to complain loudly. After a few seconds of that Goro let Akira go to take a stand next to him looking rather smug. 

“Could you not crush me against the wall when you do that?!” Morgana crawled his way out of Akira’s bag to yell at Goro. 

“W-when did you get so into PDA?!” Akira shouted next, his face red. He had expected a little kiss, not full tongue action right outside of his school.

Rather than answer, Goro shot him a smirk making Akira’s face heat up even more. Where did this cocky Goro come from? It wasn’t that Akira didn’t like it but it was sudden and in this weird world Maruki made, Akira was paranoid about even the smallest changes.

“We should hurry along to Ann’s right?” Goro asked. He clearly had no intention of explaining himself to Akira as he turned and started to walk away.

“I am… so sorry about him.” Akira said to Sumire after just staring after Goro. “He’s… possessive…” 

“I understand!” Sumire basically shouted before turning red. “I mean, it’s okay. I didn’t... I didn’t know you two were together.”

“We weren’t really telling people for a while. Like, the gang all knows but Goro and I started dating right in the middle of the shitstorm with Shido.” Akira shrugged. 

“You two better hurry up!” Goro called reminding Akira they needed to get moving. 

“Coming!” Akira shouted back before motioning for Sumire to come with him. 

“Maybe one day you’ll tell me the story.” Sumire adjusted her bag on her shoulder.

“I think that would be a good share. It’s kind of a long one.” Akira warned. “I could probably make a novel out of the whole thing. 

“I like a good book.” Sumire grinned.

_______________________________________

“Alright, now that Ann is feeling better we’re going to enter Mementos now right?” Ryuji questioned as the party sat around a table in Leblanc. It had been a week, they gave Ann a few extra days to ensure she was really all better.

“It would be best to go in now. If any of us get hurt in there we can take another few days to recover before we have to press on in Maruki’s palace.” Makoto suggested. 

“I agree that would be our best course of action.” Goro nodded. “We’ll head into the deepest part of Mementos and find where Maruki has laid his roots and pull them out.” 

“Suddenly I feel like we’re performing hanahaki surgery.” Akira frowned. 

“I suppose we could look at it that way. This fantasy Maruki has constructed is flowery and sweet smelling. However there’s no telling how deadly this could truly turn out to be.” Yusuke hummed. He had a point. No matter how nice Maruki’s world looked on the surface, it was still in the air what happened to the people in it and who’s desires were more important than others.

“An artist as always Yusuke.” Ryuji commented leaning heavily on the back of the seat he was sitting backwards on. “You ready for a trip into the Spaghetti Manufactory, Sumire?” 

“Yes!” Sumire nodded excitedly. Akira had spent some more time with her. He learned more about the real Sumire. Now and again Goro would go along with him. Akira couldn’t tell if it had been because he was still being oddly possessive or if he just wanted to make sure Sumire knew that he could be counted on as well as Akira. It helped when Akira said something that didn’t seem to land right but Goro knew what to say. 

“Can you _please_ not call it that ever again?” Goro pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“With that look on your face I know I gotta do it. That’s the rule. Sorry man.” Ryuji shrugged with a dumb grin on his face. Akira felt Goro physically tense next to him so he grabbed him by the arm to keep him still. 

“We should probably go now then right?” Ann questioned. “Unless we want to spend another half hour telling Ryuji all the reasons why we shouldn’t call the veins in Mementos spaghetti?” 

“Nope. Let’s get going.” Akira decided before motioning for everyone to start heading out. 

___________________________

Once they were in Mementos it was obvious that something was wrong right from the start. The cables they had seen in Maruki’s lab were all over the place in the same way that the God of Control’s veins had been, but there was something different. These cables were covered in flowers with a strong floral scent going through the entire area.

“Skull, I think your Red Ropes are gone.” Akira looked around. Lavenza and the door to the Velvet Room were exactly where they were meant to be so that was normal at least. The last time Akira and Goro had been in Kichijoji he got to explain about the fact no one else could see the door or Lavenza. Goro told Akira that it always looked like he kind of just checked out when he stood in the corner of Mementos where the door was. It made sense, there would be some serious alarm if Akira actually had vanished. He would have had to explain the Velvet Room a LOT sooner.

“Man what the hell is this crap?” Ryuji frowned at it. “Uhh, Fruit by the Meter? With flowers?” 

“Sure.” Akira shrugged. “But, uh, the flowers worry me.”

“I’m concerned about them as well.” Goro noted before he stepped closer to one to pick it. “I think these are chrysanthemums.”

“They don’t look like the flowers Jose has been drinking. Do you think they’re here because of Maruki?” Akira asked. 

“Does he have hanahaki?” Haru asked, making everyone fall silent. “You think that’s right?”

“I don’t know… his girlfriend is gone though. There’s a chance that maybe he has a long growing one?” Akira frowned and folded his arms. “If that’s the case this reality could also be keeping him alive.” 

“Shit…” Ryuji muttered.

“So this is someone’s palace too?” Sumire asked at last, trying to lighten the mood a little. 

“Yeah it’s not normally how it looks but, it’s not just _someone’s_ palace,” Morgana began, “it’s _everyone’s_ palace. This is a palace made of the cognition of the masses!” 

“Ohhhhh, I think I get it.” Sumire nodded. 

“It just means that everyone’s cognition is in here, you can find their shadow’s mulling about and if they start to have distorted desires they can start to form special areas for themselves, which, if not taken care of, can turn into an individual palace.” Goro explained looking over the flower again before putting it in his pocket. Maybe he planned to look at it more later.

“Oh! Okay I get it! Thank you Akechi-san!” Sumire clapped her hands together.

“Alright, let’s get going, Mona?” Akira looked at Morgana who saluted before he moved away to turn into his bus form. 

After very little excitement from Sumire at Morgana’s transformation, much to Morgana’s sadness, the team piled into the Mona-Bus once again. It was a tight fit to stuff everyone inside the vehicle until Ann suggested Sumire slot herself between her and Makoto in the front. 

The quick travel down to the bottom was fairly uneventful. Most of it was spent retelling the story of fighting the god and how they had saved the world. Sumire had a fun little sparkle in her eye as the tale came to its end with the god’s defeat just in time for them to arrive at the Hall of the Grail. 

“Look, those cameras…” Ann pointed at the very different scene they had before them before they even looked down. Large cameras wrapped in thick copper cables pointed in all directions as if watching everyone. That was something Akira didn’t like, all the cameras in Maruki’s palace, and now in Mementos, made it feel like a serious invasion of privacy.

Upon moving closer to look, a long tube had taken the place of the Grail which seemed to house a great deal of the blue cables that matched the ones blocking their path forward in Maruki’s palace. “Let’s get closer.” Akira said before he made his way down with the rest following behind him. 

“These cables and the flowers are really thick here… is this where they’re all gathering?” Haru questioned. 

“No. It seems like this is where they’re spreading.” Futaba brought up her screens. “All the cables we see have been coming out from Mementos. Not leading into it. This isn’t like before with the evil spaghetti.” 

“Why…?” Goro questioned, clearly exasperated. 

“Mementos is the cognition of the masses. This is the best place to lay roots if you want to control them.” Morgana answered completely missing that Goro was actually asking why Futaba was continuing with Ryuji’s description of Mementos before now.

“So the reddish ones are reaching out all over,” Futaba poked at her data screen, “but the bundle of blue ones in the center are the ones feeding data to Maruki’s palace. Right behind it there seems to be an exit leading to another area.” Futaba explained before Akira started to walk around the cables a little ways to look for the point she was talking about. “Oddly it seems like our path is going to take us up rather than further down.” 

“Well, any further down and we’ll find Hell I’m sure.” Goro looked at Futaba’s data. “Let’s head up and see what we find there.” 

Akira was already slowly leading the way toward their next point of entry. Once the team cleared the escalators they were met with an oddly clean version of Mementos and a notice from their phones that it would update the guidance information for the new area. This new area had even more flowers than the last though and Akira was starting to feel pretty certain that Maruki also suffered from hanahaki.

“This place somehow makes me more uncomfortable than that of the Mementos before.” Yusuke frowned. 

“Maybe because this isn’t what the people crafted themselves but what someone else made?” Haru suggested. 

“That might be it… The flowers don’t help. It’s a sickeningly sweet scent.” Yusuke admitted. 

“We should be careful going forward. I’m getting a lot of strange readings, and a lot of shadows too.” Futaba touched her goggles.

“Great.” Akira sighed before the familiar chug of Jose’s engine snuck up behind them. After a short exchange about the new flowers in this area tasting weird Jose drove off leaving the team to do the same.

After going through more and more floors, with even more star stamps much to Akira’s delight, the team finally arrived at the top floor. The space was some kind of large computer lab with a mess of cables all over the place. 

“Is this where Maruki is watching people’s shadows?” Ryuji asked.

“I think this isn’t about surveillance.This must be where Maruki is picking his targets to affect change on people.” Goro looked at the screens. 

“Targets?” Akira turned to Goro to ask. 

“Yes. I’ve been playing with the idea for a few days now. When you think about it, there have been all sorts of unnatural events happening in his reality, correct?” Goro looked around at the team earning little nods here and there. “We’ve already been asking the question of ‘it can’t be possible to grant every wish so what happens then?’ and I think this is the answer here.” Goro motioned around the room. 

“Right… if Maruki was actually able to fulfill everyone’s wishes then there wouldn’t be Phan-Site requests like the ones we found on our way up here.” Akira touched his chin. 

“Exactly, Maruki is likely picking his targets with this system, then tampering with them individually.” Goro looked up at one of the screens. “If what we’ve seen so far has any bearing on his actions, he’s probably using the same method he used on Violet’s persona to make it go berserk.” 

“So… these cables are probably…?” Sumire looked to the black and blue glowing cables littering the floor. 

“Part of his persona, yes.” Goro confirmed his suspicions. “He’ll know once we deal with them I’m sure.” 

“Well, he can’t stop us at least.” Akira looked around for the point they needed to sever the cables.

“I’ll take care of this.” Futaba stretched her hands up over her head with a few pops before she made her way over to the console to start hacking. After some typing there was a voice prompt to temporarily disable the data feed. 

“Can’t you do it permanently?” Akira asked as he moved closer to look at her screen. It was all Greek to him but he still wanted to look. 

“Not without having to take even longer here.” Futaba shook her head. “It’s better to just disable it for as long as I can.” Futaba typed a little more before hitting enter. “That should do the trick.” As she announced her work done they could hear something dragging from above them. 

Looking up Akira could see the bright cables retracting from the ceiling as the voice over the computer confirmed that they had suspended the data stream for now. “How long do we have?” Akira asked. 

“Long enough to either beat Maruki or end up not even remembering we did this at all.” Futaba answered as she spun around. 

“Will this put a stop to Maruki’s reality meddling?” Yusuke asked. 

“Nah, all we did was suspend the data sharing. Stopping Maruki himself is a whole different thing.” Futaba shook her head. “But we’ll have all the time we need. I put an advanced lock in place so even if Maruki himself came here to try and put it back he wouldn’t be able to do it.” 

“Good work Oracle.” Goro praised her. 

“Alright. We’ve spent the better part of our day here. Let’s go ahead and head out then go home. We can meet again to go to Maruki's palace tomorrow.” Akira suggested before everyone piled back into the car to head back out of Mementos.

________________________________________________________________

_** STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _11:32pm:_ **Front flip for style __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Front flip for style** : Mementos didn’t really look like what I expected...  
**AkiraAkechi** : well… maruki really fucked with it a lot.  
**GoroKurusu** : We also sped past most of the dark and… veiny parts.  
**banana_hammock** : wiggly spaghetti  
**GoroKurusu** : I’m going to shoot you.  
**GoroKurusu** : That is not a threat either. It’s a promise.  
**banana_hammock** : oh noooooo  
**banana_hammock** : dont shoot me mr detective nooooo  
**AkiraAkechi** : stop teasing him ryuji.  
**AkiraAkechi** : i can’t hold him back from killing you forever.  
**T & Tea**: At any rate, I’m also a bit alarmed at what Mementos has turned into.  
**T & Tea**: Maruki is very powerful. But the flowers worry me too.  
**GoroKurusu** : I looked them up. These mean death.  
**AkiraAkechi** : hmmmmmm.  
**GoroKurusu** : What do you know about Maruki?  
**AkiraAkechi** : he lost his gf at some point to like a robbery gone bad.  
**AkiraAkechi** : i don’t remember if she’s dead but she’s not around anymore.  
**AkiraAkechi** : i know my hanahaki can come back so maybe his is and his grasp on mementos is reflecting that?  
**GoroKurusu** : I thought so as well but I didn’t have all the information to make a proper guess.  
**AkiraAkechi** : well, now we have an idea. wooo. this sucks.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : i’m going to change the topic… was it just me or did anyone else get weirded out going UP for once?  
**tiny pizza table** : me. i wish those escalators had actually worked. i’m so worn out.  
**Pixar Mom** : I thought it was refreshing.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : I personally found the cleanliness of the new part of Mementos the most unsettling thing.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : I think because it’s nothing like what the real human cognition is.  
**Front flip for style** : It reminded me of a hospital…  
**AkiraAkechi** : THAT’S IT!  
**AkiraAkechi** : i kept trying to figure it out and now i remember.  
**Front flip for style** : Mementos really was kind of creepy still…  
**GoroKurusu** : Just be glad you’re seeing it like this. The clean hospital feel is much less horrifying than what Yaldabaoth had come up with.  
**tiny pizza table** : good ol’ yaldy.  
**tiny pizza table** : may it never exist again.  
**Front flip for style** : I wish I had been there to help...  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : be glad you weren’t.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : literally vanishing was absolutely horrible.  
**GoroKurusu** : It was not something I’d care to repeat…  
**GoroKurusu** : Anyway, let’s call it a night. We’ll meet up tomorrow to head back into Maruki’s palace and try plotting the course to his treasure.  
**AkiraAkechi** : yeah. maybe we’ll get some more info on him too.  
**AkiraAkechi** : figure out what’s up with these flowers and the likely hanahaki.  
**Front flip for style** : Good night!!!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

________________________________________________________________

_** STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _8:21pm:_ **AkiraAkechi __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**AkiraAkechi** : all that stuff we learned today about maruki on those tapes…  
**AkiraAkechi** : i can see how he started out with good intentions but by the end it just really warped out of control. i wonder if he realizes he’s gone too far.  
**GoroKurusu** : It’s likely he doesn’t. Most don’t realize how warped they are until it’s been changed.  
**GoroKurusu** : We were able to confirm his hanahaki though.  
**AkiraAkechi** : yeah… he’s on like, max timeline for living with it.  
**AkiraAkechi** : he’s going to end up dead when we fix this reality.  
**Front flip for style** : It’s kind of sad to think about it that way…  
**Front flip for style** : Is there anything we can do to save him?  
**GoroKurusu** : I always wondered if it were possible to change the cognition of something suffering hanahaki to save them.  
**AkiraAkechi** : you want to try it on him?  
**PixarMom** : It might be possible.  
**T & Tea**: I think it is about the only chance we might have.  
**Front flip for style** : so we change his heart in more than one way?  
**AkiraAkechi** : it’s worth a shot.  
**tiny pizza table** : well, moving on from guessing...i’m more interested in those exams we did.  
**tiny pizza table** : they were all based on some kind of morality right?  
**GoroKurusu** : Yes. I found those tests rather troubling after the fact.  
**AkiraAkechi** : if i had been any bit tempted to let maruki keep his world it all evaporated when we ran into the first shadow during his Q&A crap.  
**Front flip for style** : I have to agree…  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : yeah. that basically meant people were getting offed if they didn’t follow what he thought was right. Right?  
**GoroKurusu** : That was what I got from it as well.  
**AkiraAkechi** : i feel sick again.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : That scenery of Edan we found near the end of his palace was beautiful in a horrifying kind of way.  
**banana_hammock** : right? and what was with all the color bullshit?  
**AkiraAkechi** : everyone thank yusuke again for existing so we could actually make it past that.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : It just happened to be my forte.  
**GoroKurusu** : It was still done much faster thanks to your efforts.  
**tiny pizza table** : waaaaah. who are you and what did you do with goro?  
**GoroKusuru** : I said nothing odd.  
**tiny pizza table** : ……….. i’m watching you…………  
**Pixar Mom** : Yusuke you finished the calling card right?  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : I have. I plan to give it to Akira tomorrow.  
**AkiraAkechi** : ok. you coming by the cafe then?  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : Yes.  
**AkiraAkechi** : cool. i’ll have a plate of curry for you. :D  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : Thank you.  
**AkiraAkechi** : goro are you going to come over too?  
**GoroKurusu** : No. I’ll be busy with something else.  
**AkiraAkechi** : oh?  
**GoroKurusu** : 🙂  
**AkiraAkechi** : hhhhh not this again.  
**GoroKurusu** : Just mind your own business for once.  
**banana_hammock** : burn  
**AkiraAkechi** : WOW. OK.  
**Front flip for style** : I’ll come by senpai!!!  
**AkiraAkechi** : ty sumire.  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : akira what did you do?  
**AkiraAkechi** : NOTHING????  
**T & Tea:** Really?  
**AkiraAkechi** : ladkshgsldjh HARU NOT YOU TOO. WHY AM I BEING DOUBTED?  
**GoroKurusu** : Because you’re incredibly nosy about everything.  
**AkiraAkechi** : WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : he’s right tho.  
**banana_hammock** : he is  
**AkiraAkechi** : FINE. FUCK YOU TOO. WOW.  
**GoroKurusu** : 🙂  
**AkiraAkechi** : i still don’t like that…  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** ANN TAKAMAKI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _9:22pm:_ **Akira __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : do you know what he’s doing?  
**Ann** : yes.  
**Akira** : will you tell me?  
**Ann** : no. 💝  
**Akira** : whyyyyyyy?  
**Ann** : because you should mind your own business for once!  
**Akira** : WOW.  
**Ann** : just trust him.  
**Akira** : fiiiiiiiiiine. :/  
**Ann** : just trust usssss.  
**Akira** : so you’ll be together……  
**Ann** : good night akira.  
**Akira** : ANN PLS I NEED TO KNOW.  
**Ann** : no. 💝  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

________________________________________________________________

The day Maruki promised to speak with them again was coming up fast. Nerves were through the roof for everyone and no matter how much they tried to pretend they were all right, people were tense. 

Morgana spent most of his days pacing when they weren’t doing something useful. Akira tried his best to keep Morgana occupied with trips to the fishing pond or taking him along on whatever little dates he planned with people.

Ann was going around to everyone doing their nails or playing with their hair just to pass the time productively. She ended up putting some red in Akira’s hair and had Akira help her put some pink in her own.

Futaba said she was six layers of security deep into some company's financial records trying to find dirt to expose. Akira reminded her that she might not find anything given what Maruki’s reality was like but she wanted to try anyway.

Ryuji started up boxing to bulk up and keep himself busy. It was a better past time for him than video games until the break of dawn. He even admitted that it was making him feel a bit better since his knee was shot once more.

Haru’s garden, with a little help from Makoto and Akira, had taken over the entire roof of the school now. They had carefully placed signs on everything with at least a dozen cucumber, tomato, and carrot plants between beds of flowers.

Yusuke started a very large painting of some kind. He wanted to try doing a slightly different take on his usual art and started to just randomly throw cups of pain on a blank canvas. When Akira visited him Yusuke’s room looked like it had been wrapped in paper to keep the paint he was throwing around from getting onto the wall and floor.

Makoto buried herself in her college prep since she was shifting gears from law enforcement to lawyering. She needed to push herself to get into a good college but Akira knew it was to keep her mind off of the upcoming fight. Makoto did ask him for study advice since Akira always had near perfect grades on everything so he gave her what tips he could, he just hoped he was helping.

Sumire dove right back into her gymnastics with a commitment she hadn’t had before. Akira joined her for a few sessions because she wanted to repay him for helping her. It was kind of nice to do, Akira picked up a few more tricks to use on shadows and he got to see Sumire as herself, not trying to act like Kasumi.

Goro was rather secretive about what he and Ann had gotten up to. When pressed about it he only gave Akira one of his best TV smiles and changed the topic. Whatever it was, Akira was only mildly worried it might have involved a gun for Maruki. If they couldn’t actually beat Maruki in a fair fight, Goro was likely to resort to a more extreme measure. That was what he had implied back when they found the treasure route anyway. After giving up on getting any info about what he had been busy with, Akira and Goro simply spent their time together enjoying small jazz dates or staying over at one or the other’s place. More often than not it would be at Goro’s since his was a nice warm apartment not a poorly insulated attic.

For what Akira did, he just kept himself busy by visiting everyone he could. He wanted to savor this kind of freedom because he was sure that once Maruki was dealt with he was going right back to jail. He just decided to not mention that to anyone else. No, he instead visited his friends and his confidants to make sure they were all okay. 

One way or another things would be different soon. At least this way he could see that they were happy.

“Tomorrow is the day.” Morgana said from his usual seat in Akira’s room. Sojiro had closed up shop early to head on home for the day. Ever since Wakaba vanished again the cafe was just busy. He was making a lot of money and seemed to be having fun with it at least. “How do we get the calling card to him?”

“I don’t know.” Akira admitted turning the card between his hands by the corners so it spun.

“Should we go to the palace and leave it in the gate?” Morgana was starting to pace in front of him again. 

“Maruki knows we have to give it to him, he’ll talk to us--” Akira cut off when his phone rang. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to look at the blocked number on display. With a frown he answered hoping it would be who he wanted to hear from. 

“Sorry for calling so late.” Maruki’s voice spoke through the phone sending a strange wave of relief through Akira’s body. 

“Maruki-sensei…” Akira greeted him. 

“I know you’ve been expecting to hear from me. I’m actually right outside the cafe right now if you have a minute to talk.” Maruki said and Akira was on his feet. He tucked the card into his coat pocket then made his way down the steps. 

“I’ll let you in.” Akira said shortly before hanging up. He could see Maruki through the door before he even reached it. There was a split second where a strange sense of panic bubbled up in his chest but it stamped it down as he opened the door to let Maruki enter. “Come in.” 

“Thanks.” Maruki flashed Akira a smile as he stepped in from the snowy air outside. “This place is looking nicer than the last time I visited.”

“I’ve had some cleaning time on my hands.” Akira dismissed. “Would you like some coffee?” It was weird to offer it but Akira was nervous and the action to offer it was automatic.

“Sure. I’d love some.” Maruki removed his scarf before taking a seat at one of the booth tables. Akira moved past him to pop on an apron and brew a cup trying to pretend for a second that Maruki wasn’t sitting there in front of him. After a few minutes of brewing Akira poured two cups then went to pass one to Maruki before taking a seat himself. “Thank you.” 

“Don’t mention it.” Akira said with a hint of strain in his voice. This entire interaction so far was difficult and confusing. He should have just thrown the calling card and Maruki then slammed the door shut again. Some strange part of Akira still wanted to listen to him though. Maruki had been a good man, his intentions behind this reality were good, but that didn’t mean that any of this was good.

“How have you been?” Maruki started with small talk and Akira nearly ejected himself from the seat. 

“Kind of a weird conversation starter there doc.” Akira frowned at him. “Can’t we get to the point?” 

“If that’s what you want.” Maruki nodded. His face seemed to already know that the idea of small talk was not what Akira wanted to be a part of. “Getting down to business then…” Maruki paused to take a drink of his coffee before he continued. “I wanted to confirm with you once more: is there any way we can come to an agreement besides having to fight?” 

“Depends,” Akira stared Maruki right in the eye, “are you going to just let us take your distorted desire?” When Akira asked this Morgana jumped up to sit next to him and listen as well. 

“I think you already know as well as I do that, that isn’t an option for me.” Maruki shook his head with a soft smile. “I know you have some issues with this reality. It may be distorted but it is a reality where everyone can be happy.” Maruki tried once again to explain and at this point Akira was content to let him talk for a little while. “You understand that if you stay in this reality you won’t have to suffer the pain of loss anymore, right? You won’t have the people you love taken from you and you’ll never have to worry about anything ever again.” 

“You mean like you with Rumi?” Akira asked bluntly, making Maruki tense up with a gasp. “Your palace is very telling about everything you’ve been through. From the hanahaki to your girlfriend. We learned about it all.” 

“I see…” Maruki looked away from Akira to his coffee before he settled back, “she was the one who suffered. Not me. My hanahaki wasn’t such a bad thing. She approached me before I could work up the nerve to talk to her.” Maruki said with a bitter sweet smile. “But she’s now living a wonderful life without pain and there’s no such thing as hanahaki here.” 

“You were hiding your hanahaki the whole time. It’s been slowly killing you for a long time haven’t you? Wouldn’t it be better to tell her? Why live without her? How are you okay with that?” Morgana finally chimed in. 

“I just am.” Maruki shrugged. “She may not be in my life, and my hanahaki may have returned to take mine, but I know she’s living her best one. I can’t be upset about that. All I ever wanted for her was for her life to have joy in it. Make no mistake, I’m not trying to make this reality as it is just for her or to save my own life, but for all of you to live just as happily. To continue a world where she can live happily I have to push forward. My path will not change. I can only hope all you’ve seen in this world will change your mind. After all this time do you have any doubts at all about your views?” 

This was hard. Maruki had hanahaki that was killing him in their old reality. If they changed his heart they would be effectively murdering him unless they finally figured out how to save someone from hanahaki too.

Before Maruki could answer Akira the door to the cafe opened and Goro walked inside. He looked over at Maruki with a passive expression before he walked over to move Morgana out of the way so he could sit next to Akira as well. 

“Hello Akechi-kun.” Maruki greeted him with a smile. Goro did not return the pleasantry. “I have to say I didn’t expect you here.” 

“Seeing as I too am a leader I reconciled that I should be here as well.” Goro explained holding Morgana in his lap. “I meant to be here sooner but certain things kept me busy.”

“I see.” Maruki smiled. “Are you still wearing that ring?” 

“I still intend to beat the shit out of you with my own two fists, so yes.” Goro smiled one of his sickly sweet TV smiles and it sent a chill down Akira’s spine. He wasn’t sure if it was a chill out of fear or some kind of weird kink he didn’t know he had.

“I see.” Maruki looked a bit troubled at that reply as he picked up his coffee to take a drink. “You have no intention of changing your mind do you Akechi-kun? Even if I could give you back your mother and create a world where you and Kurusu-kun would never be looked down on for just being in love?” 

“The sentiment of ending homophobia is nice and all, but don’t you dare bring my mother into this.” Goro hissed. “The fact you even brought her and other’s dead parents back at all was tasteless at best.” 

“You mean to tell me you don’t want a world where your mother and many of your other friend’s parents never died?” Maruki adjusted his glasses. “Not just that, I could put back Kasumi-san, and even give Kusuru-kun a positive relationship with his parents again. Nothing need be bad.” 

“I don’t need your help with that.” Akira muttered darkly.

“I’ve been watching over you all.” Maruki smiled softly. “I can see where I made mistakes with Takamaki-san, and I promise they will not repeat. So why not live in my world?” 

“Because it’s a sugar coated nightmare. You may claim that peace is what you want but how do you really determine who has the more important dream? We’ve seen plenty of requests still crop up for people who are too miserable in your world to even wish to continue living.” Goro was still snappy and Akira couldn’t blame him. He remembered the brother that was begging to be killed because he didn’t want to take care of his sister but he couldn’t get rid of her either.

Maruki didn’t have an answer for this one. He sat across from them tight lipped on the subject and Akira had to wonder if it was him buying time or if he really had no idea. After a minute he finally spoke and from the tone Akira wondered if this was something he didn’t want to admit. “I was hoping that maintaining the Phantom Thieves would be possible for those I couldn’t help properly.”

“Ah, so you know there’s a problem.” Goro laughed. “You’re so certain that your world is perfect but when the truth is pushed you can’t hide it.”

“No matter what you think of me. I really do just want you all to be happy.” Maruki looked from Goro to Akira. “Your life was destroyed by Shido. I can make it so it never happened. You’ll have your family back in your corner **and** Akechi-kun at the same time. You don’t have to pick one or the other. Will you accept the reality I create for you?” 

“You really are just focusing on what we want and not thinking at all of yourself.” Akira looked at the table and mumbled before looking up at Maruki, “You’re dying in the real world and you just keep pressing on about everyone else. Are you just being selfless or are you hoping we won’t bring up your hanahaki as a point of selfishness?”

“My hanahaki doesn’t matter.” Maruki shook his head. 

“It really doesn’t.” Goro said rather coldly. “He doesn’t suffer ficus. He’s just holding onto it so he can keep on feeling sorry for himself.”

“Goro-” Akira pressed his lips together to stop himself from saying more. Goro didn’t understand what it was like to forget everything about someone because of some flowers. There were so many people in the world who died to their hanahaki but even more who just cut off those they loved. Not because they didn’t want them around, it was just because they didn’t remember, and to Akira that was even sadder than death.

“Don’t let hanahaki be a deciding factor for you Kurusu-kun. Akechi-kun is right, if I had to I can get it removed still. Think about what you want.” Maruki said but how was Akira just supposed to do that?

Akira stared at Maruki feeling a weird pull to almost agree with what Maruki was offering. If he did as Maruki said and disregarded the hanahaki then his thoughts differed drastically. If he agreed to go into that dream world he’d hardly know anything was ever wrong, and if he saw something they could still fix it as Phantom Thieves. Akira would have been lying if he said it wasn’t even a tiny bit tempting. From the way Maruki was looking at him, Akira got the sense that it was _his_ opinion that mattered the most. Maybe it was because Akira had been able to resist Maruki’s fantasy world in the first place?

“Akira?” Morgana questioned after a long silence.

“I want to know your thoughts over anyone else’s. You were the guiding light to my research. Without you I wouldn’t have been able to find a way to make my dream a reality.” Maruki explained. “I hold no ill will toward you no matter your choice, but I hope you at least consider my offer. You could have a happy life. No more hanahaki. No more resentment from your parents. No unnecessary deaths. You of all people have to understand how important that is. You’ve felt that fear of death when your hanahaki came out. You’ve felt the pain of betrayal when people meant to protect you beat you instead. I can fix it all.” 

Akira clenched his jaw tightly as he listened to Maruki carry on about this world he could fix for them. There were parts that were attractive. Not worrying about the police beating the hell out of him again was a plus. So was the idea of his parents accepting him as he was with the one he loved. Maruki really had gotten in deep with understanding how Akira thought. He knew what to say to make Akira at least consider it.

“Maybe I shouldn’t put you on the spot like this.” Maruki stood. “I’ll give you some more time to think on it.” 

Looking at Maruki standing, Akira felt a surge of panic. He could keep the calling card in his pocket and just let Maruki go. Goro would probably get mad at him but it would only be until Maruki’s actualization took over. On the other hand Akira’s mind wandered back to Maruki’s palace where they had run into shadows expunging those that didn’t fall in line with what Maruki’s reality wanted of them. He couldn’t let a world where undesirable people were killed off exist. “You’ll need this.” Akira reached into his pocket to take out the calling card and slide it across the table. 

“Ah, I see.” Maruki picked up the card to read it. “I’ve heard your calling.” Akira vaguely wondered if Maruki was going to consider this his answer. Akira kind of hoped so. He didn’t want to say anything more to him. “How about we do this about my question: I’ll wait in my palace tomorrow as promised. If you decide my reality isn’t something you can accept then we’ll meet once again. If you decide that this is good enough for you, then just don’t come. That’s an easier way to do it isn’t it?” With a quick smile to Akira, and a nod to Goro, Maruki turned away from them and left the store. 

“Akira?” Morgana called once again before he moved from Goro’s lap to sit on the table. “You tensed up really bad. Are you okay?” 

“I’m a little appalled you didn’t turn him down outright.” Goro’s tone carried a lot of distaste in it and Akira couldn’t blame him. Until just now Akira had been gung-ho about getting out of Maruki’s reality but now that they were actually at the crossroad he was stalling out. Maruki’s hanahaki situation really made it hard to just decide so easily. Akira was kind of appalled at himself honestly. “If you intend to accept his reality tell me now.” 

“Goro--” Morgana said but Goro put a gloved hand up to shut him up. 

“Leave Mona. I want to talk to him alone.” Goro explained and stared at Morgana for a long time until he stood and walked away to head upstairs. 

“I want to hear it from you Akira.” Goro demanded after a few minutes passed and he felt sure Morgana wasn’t listening. Akira finally built up the nerve to look at Goro to find that rather than angry he looked completely indifferent. Was he doing that on purpose? “You have a habit of putting on whatever mask you think best suits the person you’re speaking with. I want to know what you think honestly. No facade about picking the answer that will win you the most points.” 

“Goro…” Akira looked into his eyes. Goro was right, for a long time Akira picked up saying or doing things he thought would give him the best result with people. He kind of wondered if he had been honest about himself if basically anyone at this point. The only part of him that he knew was true was that he loved Goro. His heart knew it before his brain did, or did he just think that because flowers in his lungs told him so? How fake was he? 

No, out of everyone Goro was the one who he felt most at ease with. He didn’t need to do anything whacky to be his friend. When he had started with befriending Goro he had tried to kind of hide his record and his past, but Goro blew past those weak walls. After that it was easy to just talk to him, the only thing Akira hid was his hanahaki because he was terrified of rejection. Not of death, he told himself he could handle that, he just didn’t want Goro to be disgusted with him. He wanted Goro to still be his friend if nothing else.

“I want to hear what’s on your mind right now. Stop stalling.” Goro demanded as he dragged Akira from his thoughts. How long has he been lost in his own head? “Are you going to fold to Maruki’s whims or will you fight? I want to hear you say it aloud.” 

“Can I ask you something first?” Akira bowed his head. “When did you realize you really did love me?” 

“What?” Goro was confused and Akira couldn’t blame him. “Why does that matter?” 

“Because you’re right about me. I plaster on some kind of mask with everyone I meet. I put on whatever I think suits them best and do or say what works. That’s been me my whole life…” Akira stared at the space on the seat between them. The worn leather of the bench color faded over the years of use. “...except with you.” Akira looked back up. “You were the only one out of everyone I thought I could be completely honest with and I have been. So, please, just answer me this one question.” 

Goro stared back at him for a long time before letting out a sigh. “It was the first time we went to the Jazz Jin.” Goro admitted. “I told you about my mother’s hanahaki related death, something I didn’t expect in the first place, but I did it. I expected you to pity me or something, but instead of that you told me that I had a kind heart.

“I don’t know what about it did it, but those words hit me in a way I didn’t expect. Looking at you back then I remember you didn’t look at me with pity. To me it felt more like it was out of respect, now I realize it might have been out of adoration, but still. It wasn’t pity, and I appreciated that.” Goro placed his hands on the table to stare at them. “After that I started to try thinking of ways to get you to stop.” 

“Stop?” Akira questioned. 

“Doing the Phantom Thief work. I knew Shido would want to use you and in that same breath want you killed and I didn’t want that.” Goro shook his head. “Anything I ever did that you might have viewed in ill favor of the Phantom Thieves was because I knew what it would end up as.” Goro chewed his bottom lip. “It nearly turned out that way. At any rate, when you left me alone at the table I put my head down to silently scream into my hands because I knew what the feeling in my chest was. I had to force myself to keep you at arm’s length for your safety. That, but also there was the issue that I thought you and Kitagawa were dating.” 

“That’s… a lot further back than I thought. I thought you said something about a beach the last time I asked?” Akira raised an eyebrow. 

“That was when I realized I was in too deep and that there was no way I could be with you considering the sides we were on. Killing Kobayakawa was supposed to be my lead into the dark path so I could make you hate me enough to kill me off.” Goro explained. “Now, I’ve answered not just one question, but two, so answer mine. Do you want to live in Maruki’s reality?” 

Akira stared at Goro once again before speaking, “I don’t… I’ll be selfish and admit it’s not because I want to let people control their own lives. My reason is entirely selfish. I think we have a pretty kick ass love story.”

Goro stared at Akira with slow blinking eyes for a minute before he let out a soft snort that evolved into an honest laugh. He held his hand to his head as he giggled then took in a deep breath to try and compose himself again. Once he had control he cleared his throat. “You are amazing, you know that? No matter what happens you always exceed my expectations. To be frank, I was worried you might accept his reality because you wanted those of us with dead family to have them alive again. Futaba, Haru, Sumire, Makoto, and even Kitagawa all spoke about this concern and even had a speech ready for you if you did play with the idea.” 

“A whole speech?” Akira raised his eyebrows.

“The spark notes essentially came down to, they’re already gone and to bring them back in whatever form would be a bastardization of their memory.” Goro explained. “Hearing that you want to keep this reality because you think our courting was a more interesting story… is not what I expected to hear. I’m glad Maruki’s hanahaki didn’t ruin this for you either.” 

“The hanahaki came pretty close. Anyway, Wakaba said something about me losing Mona and you finding him which is honestly way too shoujo manga for my likes. The hot duel in Mementos and the near death experience right after is way more exciting. I’d love to tell my brother about it one day.” Akira grinned. 

“Why do I love you?” Goro questioned shaking his head with a faint laugh. “Well, either way we’ve got our answer, tomorrow we’ll fight Maruki with everything we’ve got.” 

“Yeah.” Akira agreed. “I feel like skipping school tomorrow, how about you?” 

“Only if you spend the night with me.” Goro gave Akira a sly grin. “We should go to my apartment.” 

“Should we leave Mona here?” Akira questioned. 

“With what I have planned for you? Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two chapters left! aaaaaa someone in my comments / discord suggested the idea that maruki had hanahaki and i loved the idea so much i actually went back and tried to add it in. it might look clunky. i've been a little depressed the last few days and writing anything has been hard to do. i'm sorry if the hanahaki getting added in was as rough as i feel like it was. anyway, thanks for reading!
> 
> preview:  
>  _“Why?” Maruki questioned. “I gave up…. Everything. I dedicated my life to this, but I still failed. I don’t understand why…?”_
> 
> _“Because running from the past won’t change anything.” Akira answered with pity in his voice. “You’re denying reality because it’s painful and you think that because you can change it to not hurt, that everyone wants that. But you’re wrong.”_


	43. I know this whole damn city thinks it needs you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight with Maruki begins. It's not an easy one. He won't just give up and let the Phantom Thieves steal his heart. He's not below using dirty tactics to keep his reality in place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ╰(⸝⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝⸝)╯

_** STAR BATTLES EP LXIX: THE PHANTOM NERDS ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _7:12am:_ **AkiraAkechi __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**AkiraAkechi** : I’m going to start off the day by telling everyone I won’t be at school today. Don’t panic. This is intentional because I decided to just spend the day getting ready for what is going to likely be a stupid hard fight later today. That said I have a few things to say to let me get it all out before you guys reply.  
**AkiraAkechi** : As you can see we decided that we’re absolutely going to be fighting Maruki today. No more guessing, no dragging feet. I had a moment of weakness I’ll own up to but that’s a personal problem of mine I got over.  
**AkiraAkechi** : I’ll be frank, Maruki offered a lot, and I want to make sure you guys all know that. He offered to give back dead parents and loved ones as well as right anything he got wrong the first time. Guys he offered to end homophobia here. That would have been a pretty big win to be honest. I managed to resist though. We’ll just have to end that in a different way right?  
**AkiraAkechi** : That said, I have time now to write out a mushy speech and you all have to read it because I can’t get through this without crying about it and I’m not about to do that in person right now. So to start with I want to thank everyone for being my friend. It’s weird to say it but when I got here I was kind of under the impression I was going to keep to myself and just get through this year quietly. I didn’t have control of my life. It was taken from me by Shido the night he fell on his ugly drunk ass.  
**AkiraAkechi** : I know Yaldy manipulated fate to get me stuck here, and pushed Goro and I toward one another. I know we were supposed to fight but you know, fuck fate. We control the narrative and I’m not about to let anyone tell me how I’m supposed to live my life. Painful or not. From day one of Yaldy’s shitty game I said ‘fuck you’ fell in love with Goro, made friends with all of you, then shot it in the head.  
**AkiraAkechi** : We fought a damn GOD. Maruki’s just a man with a complex.  
**AkiraAkechi** : So I say fuck him and his rose scented reality. I’m going back to the world where my parents hate me, and I can proudly say my boyfriend might have tried to kill me at one point.  
**AkiraAkechi** : Wait hold on, *fiance.  
**AkiraAkechi** : Anyway, back on track.  
**AkiraAkechi** : You’ve all helped me be a better person than I was before. I did a lot of “yessir” with my family and followed the path put in front of me. I didn’t know what else to do. Then you guys helped me find a side of me I didn’t know I had nor that I could be. So thank you. From the bottom of my heart. You all are the best and I love all of you. So let’s punch a dude with glasses. 💪  
**GoroKurusu** : I love you so fucking much.  
**tiny pizza table** : FUCK YEAH.  
**T & Tea**: I look forward to putting Maruki-sensei in the ground. 💜  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : i’m also ditching school to spend some extra time with shiho. 💝  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : i’m also on board to kick maruki’s ass.  
**banana_hammock** : LETS KICK HIS ASS!!!!!!  
**Front flip for style** : I won’t live in a false world anymore!!!  
**Pixar Mom** : Let’s make sure he knows he messed with the wrong group of depressed teens.  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : I plan to paint a mural of his defeat so let’s make sure it’s a beautiful one. 💙 Also congratulations to you two.  
**T & Tea**: Yes! You’ll have to let me help you make your wedding perfect!  
**my gf is hotter than urs** : i get to be the maid of honor right?  
**banana_hammock** : im the best bro  
**Pixar Mom** : You all realize it’s not even legal yet right?  
**Front flip for style** : Yet…  
**Bob Ross is my Dad** : I’ll draw up the invitations.  
**AkiraAkechi** : You’re all the best group of nerds I could ask for.  
**tiny pizza table** : akira you have my blessing to marry my brother.  
**AkiraAkechi** : ty  
**tiny pizza table** : i think i know what needs to happen now.  


**tiny pizza table has changed the group name is 💐MY BIG FAT GAY WEDDING💐.**

**AkiraAkechi** : oh no.

**tiny pizza table changed Goro’s name to TheGroom.**

**tiny pizza table changed Akira’s name to TheOtherGroom.**

**tiny pizza table changed Futaba’s name to FlowerGirlUwU.**

**FlowerGirlUwU changed Ann’s name to MoHBITCHES.**

**FlowerGirlUwU changed Morgana’s name to RingBearawr.**

**FlowerGirlUwU changed Ryuji’s name to bestBRO.**

**FlowerGirlUwU changed Yusuke’s name to bestMAN.**

**FlowerGirlUwU changed Sumire’s name to UltraGroomswoman.**

**FlowerGirlUwU changed Makoto’s name to MsOfficiant.**

**FlowerGirlUwU changed Haru’s name to BestWeddingPlanner.**

**FlowerGirlUwU** : i will not be accepting critique.  
**TheOtherGroom** : it’s all perfect.  
**bestMAN** : Well, we won’t need this chat for Phantom Thieves things after today so this is for the best I think. A good repurpose once again.  
**bestBRO** : remember when this chat was for akiras hanahaki complaining?  
**MoHBITCHES** : i like this better. flowers for a different reason.  
**UltraGroomswoman** : We’ll have to make it a wedding to remember!!!  
**MsOfficiant** : I suppose I should start looking into ways we can make this work.  
**TheGroom** : It’ll be some time before we actually commit to this you all know…  
**FlowerGirlUwU** : shhhhhh let it happen.  
**bestBRO** : man i am PUMPED  
**bestBRO** : lets fuck up maruki and plan a wedding!!!!!!!!!  
**TheOtherGroom** : one step at a time.  
**BestWeddingPlanner** : Don’t worry about money! I want to treat you to something very special!  
**TheGroom** : Haru, no.  
**TheOtherGroom** : HARU PLS DON’T.  
**BestWeddingPlanner** : I think you mean “Haru, yes!” and “HARU, THANK YOU!”  
**TheOtherGroom** : I’m going back to bed.  
**BestWeddingPlanner** : Please sleep well!  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

_** HARU OKUMURA ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _8:22am:_ **Akira __**_has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : ok but seriously haru pls don’t.  
**Haru** : I very much want to.  
**Haru** : I’ve had many people try to befriend me for my money.  
**Haru** : But I know that you and Goro-kun haven’t done that.  
**Haru** : I know that Goro-kun helped in what eventually led to my father’s death, but I forgive him for that as he should also forgive himself.  
**Haru** : I’ve thought about how much you all have helped me and how much you all mean to me.  
**Haru** : I may have no living blood family anymore, but I have you all.  
**Haru** : And I’m going to do everything I can to support you.  
**Haru** : I can’t possibly spend all this money. Even giving it back to the company’s employees I have too much. It makes me uncomfortable.  
**Haru** : So let me spoil you.  
**Haru** : I want to spoil everyone.  
**Akira** : HARU YOU’RE MAKING ME CRY AGAIN.  
**Haru** : I’m sorry!!!  
**Akira** : I LOVE YOU A LOT YOU KNOW THAT?  
**Akira** : I WOULD DIE FOR YOU.  
**Haru** : Please don’t! Goro-kun would be very sad if you did.  
**Akira** : He said he would also die/kill for you too.  
**Haru** : I appreciate that! I love you both.  
**Haru** : Don’t worry. I’ll make sure it’s still a wedding you’ll be happy with.  
**Haru** : But you won’t have to settle for less than exactly what you want because of the price.  
**Haru** : Okay?  
**Akira** : ok. ｡ﾟ･（>﹏<）･ﾟ｡  
**Haru** : 💜  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

As soon as school was over the party all met up at Leblanc as usual. They took to the attic as Sojiro was swarmed with customers so closing shop was probably not possible. It did make it an easy task to talk about what they were going to do next at least. 

After a short pep talk they made their way to Odaiba to face Maruki at long last. Akira and Goro had spent time earlier shorting out personas to use. Goro even fused Loki with Robin Hood to make a new one that was unique to him, Herewind. This persona left his mask mostly red as Robin Hood did but the black outline around his eye holes were thicker with spiked points like Akira’s mask.

Once they made their way back up to the garden point beneath the treasure Maruki spoke to them through a speaker. “I see you decided to come.” Maruki said, sounding almost disappointed but Akira wouldn’t falter now. “Well, come on up. I’ll meet you at the center of paradise.” His invitation issued, the scattered stairs leading up to the treasure began to float into place forming a solid staircase for the group to go up.

Akira paused to look back at his friends to nod one more time then turned to the stairs and began to make his way up with everyone behind him. Akira knew that putting things right again might kill Maruki. His hanahaki could surge and kill him as soon as they’re back in their own reality. There was no turning back now though. There was no time to drag their feet. They needed to take down Maruki. 

The trek up was a long one, with quite a bit of complaining about half way up that there were too damn many stairs. There really were, if it were possible Akira would have suggested the Mona-bus or grappling up some but the stairs didn’t look like they would support the bus and Akira was still the only one with a grapple. They needed to fix that if there was a next time.

When they finally reached the top Maruki was waiting for them in a room surrounded by his blue tentacle cables. “Thank you for coming.” Maruki stated before he finally turned around to face them. “I had hoped you wouldn’t…” 

“Yeah, well, that’s too bad.” Akira stated firmly. 

“I almost thought you really wouldn’t come, but I have to wonder if you’re here of your own volition or because you felt pressured by Akechi-kun.” Maruki turned his gaze to Goro. 

“I decided on my own!” Akira shouted to draw Maruki’s attention back to him. “No one else made me choose to be here.” 

“So I see.” Maruki nodded. “As long as that is your wish then I will respect that.” Maruki removed his hands from his pockets. “I suppose that we should start then shall we? If you win my heart will be changed, but if I win, my reality will be the one true reality. I will overwrite all of existence with my own cognition. No more holding back.” Maruki explained before the room began to shake and rumble. 

“Maruki… we’ll change your heart for sure. We’ll save you from your hanahaki!” Akira shouted over the deafening rumble.

“Here it comes.” Goro said before his hand found Akira’s to give it a squeeze. “Win or lose, I’m glad I met you and fought by your side.” 

Akira glanced toward Goro with a smile, “I love you.”

“As you all have your own beliefs, I have no intention of changing my plans for the future either.” Maruki looked serious. It was a little concerning to see and painful. If only he had realized what Maruki would do with the information Akira had given to him, if only he’d known Maruki had hanahaki too. “No matter what happens to me, I will fix this broken, painful world. This… is my rebellion!” Maruki threw on a thick layer of drama to his tone before a gold and white fire overtook his body. 

Once the flames faded Maruki stood before them in some kind of gold and white outfit with a gold mask on his face. Honestly Akira hated the look, it was too gaudy and it reminded him of the God of Control back at Christmas. “I believe you called your power forth like this didn’t you? Well allow me to meet you blow for blow then, persona!” Maruki reached for his mask before the blue and black tentacles from his persona rose from the ground and the golden creature appeared behind him. 

“Be on guard. His power is insane!” Futaba warned them before summoning her persona to hide inside it and stay out of the way of battle. 

“She’s right,” Maruki agreed as he held his arms out allowing for a wave for power to surge past them threatening to knock anyone not ready for it right off their feet. “With Azathoth by my side I will win!” 

As soon as the fight began Maruki’s tentacles blocked Maruki from any damage. They would have to take down the hands around Maruki to even get a chance to hit him but then he could summon more to protect him yet again. It was hard to decide who they needed to go after first. The persona and Maruki were both a problem so the party divided focus between them. Akira, Yusuke, Sumire, and Makoto kept Maruki and his hands busy while the rest of the party focused on throwing everything at his persona.

When they seemed to finally put a significant dent in Maruki’s persona he only laughed. Suddenly the persona began to grow even more hands. With the change of persona Maruki blocked off all magical moves forcing the team to rely on their physical hits between melee, guns, and strike attacks. However as they hit the persona again it was much, much stronger. It was taking hardly any damage at all. 

“Change tactics and focus on Maruki!” Akira suggested. Maruki hadn’t really hit them much yet. Akira was wondering if he was trying to work up the nerve or if he was biding his time. Maybe it was, by some grace, because he was overwhelmed and fighting back was kind of an impossible task.

Almost as soon as Akira had thought Maruki was cornered his persona drew in a large amount of power before throwing out a bright flash of light to mask an attack that struck a few of them while others managed to only barely dodge. Akira had to thus go with the assumption that he was trying to work up the nerve to actually hit them. As soon as Akira could actually see again, Maruki sent out another attack which knocked Yusuke right on his ass. 

Once Yusuke hit the ground one of Maruki’s tentacles shot out to try and grab a hold of him. Akira wasn’t about to let that happen though. He rushed to cut off the attack before it could reach Yusuke, which forced him to take Yusuke’s place instead. 

“Joker!” Yusuke called in desperation as the claw-like hand closed around him then yanked him away and upwards to hang high in the air. Akira couldn’t do anything like this, the hand kept his arms trapped at his sides with very little room to move. A shift from Maruki’s persona sent a worrying feeling up his spine before a trail of visible blue electricity shot up the arm to electrocute him. 

He couldn’t shout, his muscles tightened from the shock sent through his body, all he could do was wait for the pain to pass and hope the smell of cooked flesh wasn’t too strong when it was over. After a few seconds Akira could feel himself being put back down. He wasn’t falling, Maruki was actually putting him back down on the ground softly. 

For a moment Akira had a hard time trying to figure out where he was. When his eyes actually focused again he found he had been placed right at Maruki’s feet behind his defenses. The gold clad doctor used his staff to force Akira to look up at him before he spoke. “Surrender to me now and I’ll make everything right.” 

Akira kept his eyes on Maruki’s while he carefully moved his hands around. He dropped his dagger, that was gone somewhere. So the next best thing he could do was try to remove Maruki from his nest of safety. 

“No.” Akira said flatly before dipping to the side to avoid getting stabbed by his staff then grabbed Maruki’s ankle and aimed his grappling hook behind him and fired it blindly. The hook dug into _something_ so when Akira motioned to retract it, it dragged him, and Maruki, across the floor and out of Maruki’s tentacle nest.

As soon as Marki was out of cover and in the middle of the group Akira let go to let his team lay into him. By the time Akira was done being dragged along the floor Maruki’s persona was pulling Maruki back to it’s safety. 

There was no mistake that Akira’s play had done what he intended to damage Maruki. He looked really rough now, but most of all he actually looked a bit pissed off. For some reason that look was rather funny to Akira. Maybe he finally realized that he wasn’t going to be able to stop them. 

“I can’t deny that you’re all very strong, but it’s for that reason I have to remind you what it’s like to suffer!” Maruki held his hand out before snapping his fingers. A shimmery effect covered the room in a strange haze but nothing seemed to happen. “Please forgive me for this.” Maruki begged before Akira felt something familiar in his chest. 

“What did you--?!” Akira managed to get out before he started to cough. To his right Haru also began to cough into her hands but that was as far as his focus could carry him as he felt something come up from his throat. One more hard cough forced a large red camellia to come out of his mouth and into his hand. Akira stared at it for a few seconds before another fit hit him like a truck. It sent him to his knees as he held onto the front of his shirt, struggling to get gasps of air into his lungs between the flowers. 

“You bastard! Take it back!!!” Ryuji screamed before the sound of thunder filled the room. Ryuji was trying to brute force his way into making Maruki listen.

“Joker!” Goro’s voice reached Akira before the sight of a white gloved hand forced Akira to look up. “Joker--Akira, listen to me, I love you. Okay? Spit it out!” Akira’s cough hit him harder than before. He turned his head back down so he didn’t cough up blood all over Goro as another flower came out, then another. It wasn’t the same as last time though. Goro’s words weren’t helping. Why weren’t they helping?

“It won’t be that easy Akechi-kun.” Maruki said. “This is my world, remember? I make the rules.” 

“You’re a bastard and a cheat you mean!” Goro launched to his feet. “How fucking dare you put this on them knowing what it feels like yourself?! I’ll do more than beat the shit out of you now. I’ll fucking kill you!” Goro screamed across the battlefield.

“Everyone, put your attention on his persona again, he’s blocking our attacks somehow! Mona keep an eye on Noir and Joker! Everyone else, with me!” Goro called as the party launched into another round of combat. This was much harder now, they were out three people, and Maruki’s persona was able to take so much more damage than before. It didn’t help that no matter how hard they tried they couldn’t get a hit in on Maruki no matter what. 

Akira felt useless and helpless as he was forced to watch between gasps of air as his friends struggled through each hit. Eventually Maruki’s persona was starting to sag and show damage again, but as it came closer to the brink of defeat, it started to gather more power again. 

Goro wasn’t about to let Maruki get off another big hit so he instead poured everything into taking down his persona by summoning Harewind. Once Maruki’s persona was gone Goro rushed in to each give Maruki a strong punch to the face sending him falling back into the mess of tentacles behind him. That seemed to do the trick at long last as Akira and Haru both let out one more strong cough to push out what was lodged in their throats before it suddenly just cleared away like it had never happened. 

“Noir, are... are you okay?” Akira gasped. His head was pounding and his throat was sore so he could only imagine she felt at least a fraction the same as him.

“I’m okay.” Haru insisted as she struggled to get to her feet. “You went through much worse.” She looked down at Akira before offering her hand to help him back up to his feet. Morgana quickly offered to heal them both before the three of them moved to rejoin the team.

“You ready to give up yet, Maruki?” Goro asked, holding up a first ready to punch him again. Akira had to admit, he wished he’d gotten a chance to punch him as well. Why had he put him and Haru through such an advanced hanahaki attack like that? Was he really trying to preserve his reality or was he scared of dying now?

“N--no....” Maruki struggled to get back to his feet with his persona faded away to nothing. 

Suddenly a gold torch appeared before the party as if signaling that Maruki was indeed finished. Morgana confirmed that the torch itself was Maruki’s treasure, so that meant all they had left to do was to grab it then. Akira stepped up to take the torch in his hand, and as soon as he felt it’s weight properly the palace began to shake. 

“It’s time to go!” Morgana announced. 

“Joker!” Ann called to him, making Akira look up before then jump out of the way as a part of the ceiling fell down on the space he had been occupying. “We need to get out of here!” 

As with most of the mad rushing they made to get out of palaces, Morgana turned into his car form before everyone piled inside and Makoto slammed on the gas. Once they were on the move Goro turned to grab Akira by the sides of his face to look at him. 

“Are you okay? Are there any more flowers?” Goro forced Akira’s head to turn different directions to inspect for injuries before trying to force open his mouth. 

“I’m fine! It’s passed!” Akira swatted his hands away. “Don’t go shoving your thumb in my mouth right now! I’m liable to bite it off with all the bumping!” 

“ _Right now_.” Futaba teased. 

“Shut up!” Akira flushed red before a sudden shift in driving sent Akira slamming backwards into Sumire. Before he could apologize the car turned again launching everyone to the other side of the card then suddenly there was no more gravity. 

“WE’RE FALLING!” Futaba screamed then threw her arms around Yusuke to squeeze around his neck. Just as soon as gravity had vanished, it returned with a hard thump as the car hit the ground with a loud bang.

“Mona are you okay?” Akira pushed himself off of Goro after they finally stopped. 

“A little sore but we’re alive.” Morgana answered. “We have a different problem though.” Morgana said before everyone turned to look out the window. Maruki’s palace was still actually standing, sort of. It looked rough, and was absolutely smoldering in places, but it was still standing and the party was still in their Phantom Thief outfits. 

“What’s going on?” Akira asked, still holding Maruki’s treasure tight in his hand. “Why aren’t we going back yet?” 

“Because it looks like he’s not finished with us yet.” Goro said looking up toward a building. Akira followed his eyes to find that Maruki was standing up on the roof looking like he was still ready to fight with them. 

“Oh come on! We’re just going to kick your ass again!” Ryuji shouted. 

“Sorry, I don’t plan on admitting defeat just yet!” Maruki shook his head. 

“Please, just stop already!” Akira shouted back. 

“You know I can’t. I’m sorry, Kurusu-kun.” Maruki apologized. “I’ve been chosen by this world to save it. Granting this wish is my duty!” 

“Oh shove it up your ass!” Goro shouted. “You just want to make yourself a god! You sound just like my useless piece of shit father!”

“I’m sorry you see it that way, Akechi-kun, but I won’t be stopped.” Maruki tossed his staff aside then motioned toward Akira to summon his treasure to him. Akira tried to hold onto it but the force of it actually started to lift him off of the ground, and rather than repeat getting stuck that close to Maruki he let it go. 

Once Maruki had his treasure in his hand once more his persona appeared again then began to change. Light covered the field making it impossible to see. When it did fade the party was greeted with a new monster behind Maruki. His persona had grown in size though still not the largest thing they had fought.

“Well, shit.” Akira muttered. 

“I will do whatever it takes for everyone’s happiness. No matter the cost to myself!” Maruki shouted. “Please, stop resisting and just accept my world! You have no hope against mine and Adam Kadmon’s power! We will guide humanity towards the ideal reality!” 

“No! We’ll decide our reality!” Goro shouted. 

“We can’t lose this!” Akira looked to the party. “Buckle in.” 

“Can’t you guys summon that huge persona you did against Yaldy?!” Futaba requested before retreating into her persona again. 

“Uhhhh,” Akira looked at Goro, “can we?” 

“I think that was only possible because everyone in the world was supporting us. We’ll have to do this the hard way.” Goro shook his head. “Here he comes!” 

The change in Maruki’s persona actually made it easier to attack him. He didn’t have the support of the tentacles absorbing the damage for him. There was also the fact that Akira, Haru, and Morgana were able to actually fight again as well. Adam Kadmon didn’t really help Maruki all that much, so when Maruki sagged, Akira wondered if it was finally going to turn disastrous. Like if his persona was going to eat him and go berserk.

“I can’t give up here.” Maruki huffed. 

“Maruki, stop already!” Akira shouted. “Let’s go back! You can remove your hanahaki and live a good life! Rumi would want you to!”

“I can’t forget her.” Maruki started. “I won’t!”

“Idiot! It’s not worth your life!” Goro yelled back.

Akira hated himself sometimes and this was one of those times. He couldn’t do anything to change Maruki’s mind aside from beating the shit out of him. He watched in horror as Adam Kadmon extended it’s hand down to Maruki to offer it to him. “Uhhh, no. No!” Akira shouted before drawing his gun to fire at the hand. Goro seemed to be thinking the same thing as he too unloaded his clip only for the tentacles to grow out of the ground. So they were there? What was going on?

“I see now, I wasn’t putting my all into this after all.” Maruki stepped up onto his persona’s hand. “I won’t make that mistake again.” Maruki waited as the hand lifted him up into the air. There was no way to reach him now. In a flash of light Maruki vanished into his persona’s head then they heard him speak again, “I’m all yours, do what you want to me. Show me your reality!” 

“He’s lost his fucking mind!” Ryuji shouted. 

“If he lets his persona make choices what is going to happen?” Haru worried. “We really can’t lose now. Maruki isn’t in control anymore!” 

“I am thou and,” Maruki’s voice trailed off as his persona began to focus its power, “thou art I!” 

“Now we gotta fight this thing right?” Sumire asked, taking an uneasy step back. 

“Next time someone says we gotta fight a god of some kind. I’m going to laugh at them and leave. I’m so over this shit.” Akira complained. 

“I’m already ready to nap for a week.” Ann sighed. 

“Making future plans is good, gives you something to fight for.” Yusuke frowned deeply at Adam Kadmon. “I am disappointed that this persona is very...gaudy. It won’t make for a nice painting.” 

“Just paint me instead.” Akira winked with a smile. 

“He can paint our _wedding_ portrait.” Goro hissed.

“Aww, are you still getting jealous?” Akira turned to him to tease. “I’m sorry, I’ll be more mindful.”

“Guys focus up already!” Makoto shouted at them. “Here he comes.” Makoto’s warning came just in time for them to take a hard hit from a very, VERY powerful punch to the ground in front of them. 

“Mona, Queen, you focus on keeping us healed up, I want everyone else to pile on the damage. We won’t lose here!” Akira shouted before a healing wave washed over them all. “Let’s go!” 

Almost as soon as they started to attack they realized that this thing was too strong for them. Any and all hits they tried to land on it did hardly any damage at all. After a few more punches from Adam Kadmon, Futaba was able to tell them exactly what they needed to do to actually land a proper hit but it wasn’t going to be pretty. 

“So we need to attack his head while he’s trying to obliterate us. Awesome.” Akira said almost dryly as the persona pulled it’s fist back to charge another punch. “Crow?” 

“You do it. I’ll support them here.” Goro nodded before he and the rest moved forward to try and absorb Adam Kadmon’s attack. When the hit attempted to connect everyone summoned their persona’s to push the fist back to stop them from being crushed. “GO JOKER!” 

Akira was already running before Goro shouted at him. He threw his grappling hook out to latch onto a piece of scaffolding behind Adam Kadmon’s head then let it carry him off into the air. Once Akira laughed high enough into the sky he called on Aresne to help guide his fall back toward the larger persona’s face. 

Adam Kadmon had been looking up to watch Akira so he was able to land square between its eyes and draw his gun to point right down the middle. “Checkmate.” Akira smirked before squeezing the trigger to fire into Adam Kadmon’s head. Akira could almost swear he could see a notification for max damage as the buttle ripped through the persona’s head to hit something inside, which was probably Maruki. 

Adam Kadmon then began to fade away forcing Akira to aim his hook back into a building to move to a place of safety before he was forced to fall as well. He slowly made his way back down to his team just in time for Maruki’s treasure to appear to them once again. “Looks like we got it again.” Akira grabbed it before realizing Marki was right in front of him, his mask broken.

“Why?” Maruki questioned. “I gave up…. _Everything_. I dedicated my life to this, but I still failed. I don’t understand… I… was I wrong to try clinging to Rumi’s memory? Why?”

“Because running from the past won’t change anything.” Akira answered with pity in his voice. “You’re denying reality because it’s painful and you think that because you can change it to not hurt, that everyone wants that. But you’re wrong. I know that I’m a bit of a hypocrite for saying this but you shouldn’t hold onto Rumi so much. Let her go. Forget about her and live your life. You’ll find someone else. I-if I could have removed mine I would have. It’s fucking _terrifying_ knowing your life hinges on someone else loving you like you love them. I didn’t have that option and I _did_ nearly die for it!” 

“You mean… I should forget Rumi and just run away from my failures?” Maruki looked up at Akira with wide eyes before he pushed himself to stand up. For a moment he looked confused then he let out a laugh. “You might have the right of it. But how can I turn my back on this reality? Our original reality was so painful… where was the harm in running from that one?! When it’s too much to handle, too _painful_ … Everyone deserves a chance to escape that if they wish to! This is our escape!” 

“That’s…” Sumire chewed her bottom lip. 

“In all honesty, I know that it’s better for a person to grow by tackling their own hardships. But that isn’t always possible in reality!” Maruki yelled. “No matter how hard you work, or how much you try, the smallest injustice can take away your entire life! I thought you of all people would understand, Kurusu-kun!” 

“I do!” Akira snapped back. “I know exactly what it’s like to have your whole life change because of one incident! But I’m not using it as a shield! I grew from that change in my life and have more because of it. I didn’t hide away. I had the choice to.” Akira shook his head. “I decided to fight. I decided to keep doing what was right and press on even when it was too hard and I thought I was going to die! You’re just being a coward!” 

“So you really don’t want to stay here huh?” Maruki laughed bitterly. “Looks like I’m totally done.” At Maruki’s words the ground began to shake once again. Was his persona going to make a return or was he being truthful and this was just his palace, his reality, collapsing at last? 

When more and more things began to fall off of his palace and into the roads and buildings Akira accepted that this was just the end of Maruki’s dream. “We need to get out of here!” Ryuji shouted. 

“Maruki-sensei! It’s not safe there! You have to move!” Sumire shouted at him. Maruki removed his mask to look at her with a soft smile before something near him exploded. “Maruki-sensei?!”

“No!” Akira shouted, throwing the treasure to Goro before he ran to try and help. He only got two steps forward before Goro caught him by the tail of his coat to stop him. 

“It’s too late for him!” Goro shouted as the smoke cleared. Maruki was gone. “We have to worry about ourselves!” 

“The road behind us is gone!” Yusuke drew their attention. “What do we do?” 

“Everyone gather up to me! Hurry!” Morgana demanded before everyone circled around him. In a puff of smoke Morgana turned into his car for once again. 

“H-hey! Mona you can’t _tank_ this!” Futaba gripped the bick of the seat as she leaned forward. 

“Sure I can!” Morgana tried to say with a laugh but a large rock bounced off the room making him yelp. 

“Morgana-senpai can’t you fly?!” Sumire gripped the steering wheel.

“What? No! That’s… well…” Morgana trailed off. “You know what, it’s now or never. I’ve **gotta** fly!” Morgana said, sounding rather sure of himself as more and more debris fell around them. Light began to glow all around them as Morgana actually did begin to shift. Akira felt the space was becoming smaller and with a quick thought he wrapped his arm around Goro’s waist and let the two of them slide out of the vehicle. 

Goro questioned what he was doing as the sound of helicopter blades met their ears. Akira ignored him for a moment as he aimed his grappling hook to catch on the leg of the helicopter--wait no-- Monacopter as it ascended into the air. Goro threw his arms around Akira’s neck to hold onto him tightly as the pair of them were pulled into the air as the Monacopter took off. 

“Joker?! Crow?! Where are you?” Ryuji shouted. 

“We’re fine!” Akira shouted back looking up as Ryuji leaned over the side to catch a look at them. “It seemed like it was cramped in there so I thought I’d leave a little space.” 

“Show off!” Ryuji shouted at him.

“You really are.” Goro let out a sigh as he shook his head. “What am I supposed to do with you?” Goro questioned before he pressed his face into Akira’s neck. They started to make their way toward the edge of Maruki’s palace so they could finally claim a proper victory here but as they neared the exit one of the familiar blue and black tentacles grabbed hold of one of the Monacopter’s legs to stop them. “This asshole…” Goro hissed looking down. 

“Is he serious?” Akira frowned before a shift from above and screams told them that Maruki was pulling them back down toward him. “Goro…” 

“Right.” Goro agreed before Akira loosened the grappling hook and let the two of them fall toward Maruki. On their way down the pair of them drew their weapons to cut along the tentacle to release the rest from Maruki’s hold. “I left the treasure inside.” Goro said once they touched the ground a few feet away from Maruki. “We just have to buy time.” 

“I think we can manage that.” Akira stood up from his hero landing to adjust his gloves. “I thought you said you were done, Maruki-sensei?” 

“Sorry to cut your flight short like that.” Maruki looked around. “This place is done. The reality I made is finished.” Maruki let out a sigh as he dropped his staff to let it clatter on the ground. “I’ve lost. Even if I try to fight you here I’m sure I’d lose again. Even if it’s only the two of you.” 

“So I could break your jaw and you couldn’t stop me then?” Goro’s lips turned into a twisted grin. 

“You could, but I want to make a stupid request.” Maruki looked at Akira then Goro. “I want you to please help me kill every last one of my regrets. You’re the only one I can trust with this Kususu-kun.” 

“Meaning…?” Akira asked slowly.

“No more personas. Just you and me.” Maruki motioned at himself before his clothes faded to the white outfit he had been wearing before in his palace. 

“Ah, you want to fist fight.” Akira started to understand before his mask faded away. The palace was vanishing and so his Metaverse powers were going with it. “Listen, uh, I’m not really all that comfortable with the idea of doing that.” Akira put his hands up. “Like, I’ve had my fill of adults punching the shit out of me. Don’t want to do that again.” 

“I can do it.” Goro stepped up as his mask also faded away. “You’re a therapist still. I’m sure you don’t really want to trigger his PTSD now do you?” 

“I suppose you have a point.” Maruki agreed. “Then, Akechi-kun, please help me.” 

“Oh this is for me too. Don’t you worry about that.” Goro rolled his shoulder as he stepped up to Maruki. 

“Goro…” Akira chewed his bottom lip. He didn’t really want his fiance to get into a punching match with Maruki either. 

However once Maruki threw the first punch there was nothing Akira could do to really stop it. Whatever kind of therapy this was providing for Maruki he was basically screaming as he launched punch after punch on Goro who met his hits back with as much force if not more. 

After one more good sock to the law Maruki let out a long winded scream then took a knee before he laid down on the ground with a sob. “I’m done.” Maruki said, staring at the sky as snow began to fall. “I get it. Thank you.” 

“Of course.” Goro rolled his wrist. His face was a little red and would probably bruise but he looked satisfied at least. Goro turned to shot Akira a smile but as he did so the ground began to shake and the sound of cracking filled the air. 

Akira opened his mouth to make a joke about Goro’s wrist being really bad off when he caught sight of where the sound was coming from. “Maruki-sensei!” Akira shouted watching as the ground under him began to break apart. Akira rushed forward to catch Maruki before he fell this time and held on tight even with Maruki acting as dead weight. 

Goro soon joined him to try and take hold of Maruki as well to get him up to safety but Maruki seemed uninterested. “Try god damnit!” Goro snapped.

“Oh come on. I said that I’m done.” Maruki shook his head. “Just let me go. If I don’t fall here the hanahaki will kill me anyway.” Maruki begged, still offering no help to the two as their Metaverse outfits faded away.

“I’m not letting it end like this!” Akira shouted. “You can still live!”

“How the hell is he so heavy?” Goro tried to pull but even together they weren’t able to lift Maruki more than a few inches. The ledge under them began to form cracks as well, part of it falling away when Akira pressed harder against it to attempt another pull to get Maruki up. 

“You both are so… heroic.” Maruki smiled sadly up to them. “You’re in control of your lives now. Keep your heads up, and be proud of what you’ve done. No matter what.” Maruki carried a note of finality in his voice that Akira hated. 

“Don’t you dare!” Akira screamed at him. 

“You know, I was always a little scared of this. That you and I wouldn’t want the same reality.” Maruki looked down. “Here we are though…” 

“You just need to give the world one more shot!” Akira shouted. “You’ll find your place again! Just… please don’t make us live with the fact we couldn’t save you!” 

“I’ve had enough people die because of me!” Goro added. “So get your ass up here!” Goro let another hand down to really get a good hold on Maruki. 

“Akechi-kun, Kurusu-kun…” Maruki stared at them both before the light from the Monacopter illuminated them. “I see… Okay. I get it.” Maruki reached up with his other hand. “We’ll go together.” 

______________________________________________

Akira’s memory after saving Maruki was blurry. He remembered the Monacopter, and remembered getting out of the Metaverse, but after that it’s foggy. All he knew was that he was sitting in his school uniform inside the Velvet Room once again. No winter coat or anything, so he was sure that this was a dream and not him physically being present there, but still. 

Akira was staring at his hands when a laugh from the middle of the room and drew his attention. He looked over to find Igor staring at him as he ever did with those unblinking eyes and huge creepy grin. “You’ve done well.” Igor said then motioned for Akira to come out of his cell. 

“We have witnessed your decision.” Lavenza said as Akira approached. 

“Where’s Goro?” Akira looked toward the cell he was in the last time they went in together. 

“We wanted to only speak with you.” Lavenza shook her head. “It was your choice to take back man’s future as well as re-established reason for existence. While your reality has been distorted your actions have guided it back toward what it should be.” 

“So… it’ll go back.” Akira looked at the floor in thought then back up. “I’ll be back in jail when I wake next, won’t I?” 

“Yes.” Lavenza confirmed. “Time itself cannot be undone, so you will awaken on the same day you should as you know it. However, every past event will revert to what should have occurred instead.” 

“Got it.” Akira nodded. 

“Do you regret what you’ve done?” Lavenza asked. 

“No. We’ll work it out somehow.” Akira shook his head then smiled. “I’ll be alright.” 

“Nonetheless, this path was not an easy choice for you. For staying upon it you have our utmost respect and gratitude, Akira Kurusu.” Lavenza did a little curtsy. “May we meet again one day.” Lavenza said before everything faded back to black once again.

As predicted when Akira opened his eyes he was back in his prison cell as if nothing had happened. Akira sat up to look around before letting out a small sigh. He knew this would happen and even if it wasn’t ideal, at least he knew Goro was safe. Probably.

With a stupid smile on his face Akira kicked back on his bed to just relax. He just needed to wait now. He was sure he could get out. It would just take time and he could wait.

________________________________________________________ 

Hours, turned to days, turned to just over a week before Akira had another dream in the Velvet Room. He didn’t wait to be called out of his cell as he stood to walk out and look around at all the open cell doors. However as he walked out there was no sign of Lavenza or Igor. A sense of worry pulled at Akira’s spine until he heard his name called in a familiar voice.

Akira turned his head toward the cell Goro had been ‘assigned’ before the man himself walked out to go right to him and embrace him. “I’ve missed you.” Goro spoke into his neck. 

“I’ve missed you too.” Akira returned the embrace. “How are things outside?” 

“Let’s not talk about that.” Goro pulled away with a shake of his head. “Are you being treated okay?” 

“Yeah, I mean, as well as I can be. After, oh, the third breakdown in handcuffs they stopped using them.” Akira held up his hands. “I think they figured out that there’s normally like, six of them and one of me.” 

“Have you been hurt?” Goro frowned. 

“No.” Akira shook his head. “Even if I was, it's fine.” Akira looked around the room. “This was the path we chose.” 

“I know…” Goro nodded before letting out a sigh. “We might be able to free you soon. So, just do me a favor and stay optimistic okay?” 

“I will.” Akira grinned before a bright light grew from the desk suddenly then faded to show Igor and Lavenza. “There you two are.” 

“We wanted to give you a moment alone.” Lavenza explained. “There is something we wanted to give to you both before you go back into society.” Lavenza drew a card from her dress pocket before holding her hand out in front of her.

The card stood up in her hand before tuning on the point to start spinning. It continued to slowly spin as he left her hand to levitate over to Goro and Akira. For a moment the two of them stared at it then reached out to touch it together. As they did the card flashed blue then stopped spinning to face the tarot toward them. “This card is that of The World. After all your hardships and all the choices you had to make you have proven that you are able to stand on your own two feet. This card comes with the power that will fuel the hope shared among you and your friends. Together you will strive toward a better future. With The World, you are no longer without a place to belong, and you’ll never walk a path alone again.” 

The faint glow around the card started to grow a bit brighter before the card vanished leaving a ball of light in its wake. After a few seconds the light split off into two beams to enter both Akira and Goro at once. 

“You no longer need me… for now.” Igor spoke. “Not in my time serving Velvet Room guests has one brought in another to share in his growth. I shan't forget you anytime soon. You were both truly remarkable guests. I look forward to seeing how you go about the world.”

“Good-bye, Akira Kurusu, Goro Akechi, may your path be clear.” Lavenza bowed her head as both she and Igor faded away in blue light once more. 

“I guess… that’s it then?” Akira tipped his head to one side. “I think I saw Igor blink at the end there.” 

“You’re hopeless.” Goro sighed as he touched his forehead. “I do think that’s the end of this room though. Next time I see you, it'll be in reality.” 

“Do I get a good-bye kiss?” Akira leaned closer to Goro. 

“No. I’m going to make you wait for it. Again.” Goro put up a finger to place against Akira’s lips. Goro’s smile was the last thing Akira saw before the room around them began to glow bright and clear. It wasn’t painful. It was just what Akira expected, the world faded away putting him back in his cell and away from Goro, for now. 

________________________________________________________

Two days after his Velvet Room dream with Goro, Sae came to call. He hadn’t actually seen her since he’d been in before and he wondered if she had visiting between his weeks of not actually being in here. 

From her words she seemed to confirm that they weren't in contact. She started off by telling him that Shido would be found guilty. That was good since Akira had gone through the trouble of turning himself in to get him found guilty in the first place. After some talk she also revealed that Akira would also be released. 

“You don’t look surprised.” Sae noted watching Akira’s face. 

“I had a dream where Goro told me I’d be getting out soon.” Akira told a half truth with a smile. 

“Well, as soon as the papers are cleared you’ll be a free man.” Sae said. “I want you to know that everyone did everything they could for you. Akechi-kun even found the original victim from the assault case filed against you. She told the truth of what happened and that was actually the turning point for you. I’m honestly impressed. Even if the Phantom Thieves are gone, you still have amazing friends who don’t know how to quit.” 

“I think they’re pretty awesome too.” Akira grinned. 

“I’m glad that I was able to save you in court. You’ll be able to go home with your head held high.” Sae smiled. 

“I wonder about that.” Akira laughed bitterly. His parents were likely to still not want him around. “Thank you, Sae-san.” 

“I should be thanking you.” Sae stood. “I’ve talked to Sakura-san about your release. He should be here to pick you up as soon as you’re released. They should start processing you for release in a short while here. I’ll see you again on the other side of the glass.” 

_________________________________________________

Just as last time he was released Akira was able to put back on the clothes he’d been wearing when he was arrested to start with. He actually still had Goro’s gloves and jacket too. Akira could only hope Goro bought some more gloves or Akira was going to feel bad about this.

The difference of last time Akira was released was that Sojiro was there waiting for him before he’d even gotten outside the door. “Hey you.” Sojiro greeted him. “Took you long enough, I didn’t really want to show up but Futaba kept nagging and nagging.” Sojiro joked as Akira walked around the car to climb inside. 

“I missed you too, _dad._ ” Akira said once he was in the car. 

“Yeah well, how’s it feel being a free man again?” Sojiro asked. 

“Pretty good.” Akira answered leaning against the window. “Are the others waiting?” 

“Maybe.” Sojiro chuckled then drove them away. Once they got on the freeway, however, they were met with a parking lot rather than moving traffic. “Oh great.” Sojiro said bitterly. “Reminds me of that day back in April when we went to introduce you to the school. To think it’s already almost been a whole year…” Sojiro hummed. “Pretty soon you’ll be…” 

Akira turned his head to stare off into the distance at the wall of cars in front of them. Akira knew that he was supposed to go home soon. Was that really home though? Inaba felt so very long ago and so very far away. Part of Akira didn’t want to go back at all but he knew he had to.

“You could stay here you know? Finish out high school, go to college.” Sojiro finally said it. “I’ll clean up a room for you in the house so you don’t have to stay in the attic anymore. What do you think about that?” 

“I think it’s a great offer, Boss.” Akira smiled sadly. “But I can’t.” 

“Why not?” 

“I have things I need to finish back in Inaba. I have a little brother there who needs me too.” Akira rubbed his hands together. “I was thinking about this for a long time. Not that I assumed you’d keep me around. Goro would happily put up with me too, but I need to head back. Maybe not for the whole time, but I want to properly get my affairs in order.” 

“Well… I can’t fault you for that.” Sojiro sighed. “You’re a damn good kid. I won’t say this twice so make sure you listen good, I’m glad I took you in. Thank you.” 

“Likewise.” 

It was late into the evening by the time Sojiro dropped him off outside of the backstreets so he could go park his car back home. Akira silently made his way to Leblanc with a smile on his face as he looked up at the familiar red and white awning he’d grown to love. After an extended pause to stare at the sign Akira put his hand on the door to head inside. 

As soon as he opened the door Akira was besieged by confetti poppers and welcoming cheers from everyone before he was very quickly mobbed. Each person offered their congratulations to his freedom while hugs were given all around. Everyone but Goro. When Akira realized this he looked up and around for his fiance only to find he was nowhere to be seen. 

“Goro stepped out just before you got here.” Futaba explained. “We ran out of chips because Ryuji ate them all and Goro drew the short straw! If we’d known you were going to be here _now_ we woulda sent Ryuji! But nooooo your phone is prolly still sups dead, Sojiro turns his off when he’s driving!” 

“I’m still learning new things about Boss.” Akira laughed before the door opened behind him. He expected Goro but it was just Sojiro. “Can I borrow someone’s phone?” 

“Take mine. If he sees you calling from my number he’ll be back in seconds.” Yusuke offered his phone to Akira. 

“Yeah… you’re right.” Akira laughed before calling Goro. There was a pause where he didn’t answer but after the fifth ring he finally picked up. 

“What do you want Kitagawa?” Goro sounded a little annoyed, Akira could hear Morgana asking about Yusuke calling in the background. 

“I would love it if you would come back here so I can give you that kiss you promised me?” Akira said. Silence followed Akira’s reply before the line suddenly went dead. “He’ll be here soon. Clear the doorway.” Akira motioned everyone out of the way before the door opened and Goro was there. “Hiya.” 

“Next time, call when you’re going to be late!” Goro shot a glare at him then crossed the space between them to drag Akira into a kiss. “About time you came home.” Goro muttered against his lips after a long kiss. 

“Sorry I took so long. Some detective I know took a little while to track down this _star witness_ needed to overturn my conviction.” Akira dug. 

“Sounds like trash. You should fire him.” Goro gave Akira another kiss before a paw wiggled between them to force them apart. 

“Enough of that, if you two keep this up everyone else will have to leave!” Morgana interjected. “We’re here to welcome Akira back so let’s do that! You can have your sappy romance time later.” 

“But Monaaaaaa, I missed himmmmm.” Akira put half of his body against Goro’s in a faux dead weight. 

“Dramatic.” Goro laughed, forcing Akira to stand upright to then guide him toward a table to sit down. As they talked and food went around everyone was having a pretty good time until Ryuji brought up a topic no one really wanted to discuss. The same one Sojiro had asked about before. 

“Sooooooo, you’re going back home next month?” Ryuji asked. When Akira didn’t answer right away he spoke again, “I got nosy and got it out of boss. Are you, like, sure you gotta go? I know we proved you innocent and stuff but people are going to label you anyway right? And you said it’s a super tiny town and stuff. Wouldn’t it be better to just stay here? It’s your last year of high school besides that!” 

The happy mood in the room suddenly tanked as smiles faded and everyone stared at whatever space they thought would give Akira time to think. After a minute of silence Makoto finally tried to get the mood back up but no one was taking it.

“Well, let’s think of this, if our leader is really leaving, then the Phantom Thieves are really disbanding right?” Makoto said. “Though I guess we’d still have Goro-kun huh?” 

“No, I plan to go with him as well.” Goro said. 

“Waaaaaaaah,” Ryuji gasped, “what about your TV gig and shit?” 

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’ve been out of television for some time now.” Goro shook his head. “I plan to go with Akira so I can step away from the spotlight entirely. I can use this time to figure things out for myself while also supporting him while he goes back to school. I lived a lot of my life just wanting revenge on Shido. Now that he’s getting his dues, I have to figure out what else I want. I have Akira, so I’ve at least got a start.” 

“Awwww, you’re all sappy and gross!” Futaba pointed at him before her expression softened and she held her knees. “Would it be selfish to tell you guys not to go though? Like, you _are_ my brother and I already considered Akira kind of my brother too, you know? It’ll be lonely.” 

“It won’t be forever.” Akira promised. “I’ll finish high school there, but you can bet your ass I’m coming right back here for college. No doubts there.” 

“You better!” Futaba demanded. 

“It’s a bit sad to think about the Phantom Thieves disbanding, but I think it’s been a great experience.” Sumire grinned. “Actually, Morgana-senpai, what will you do?” 

“Hm? Me?” Morgana looked at Sumire. “Well, I kind of thought it might be obvious but I’ll be going with those two when they leave. Goro and Akira are both pretty special, and if they’re completely alone who knows what kind of trouble they’ll get up to. I gotta keep an eye on them.” 

“Who needs kids when you have Morgana?” Ann laughed.

“God don’t even joke.” Akira groaned. “But I’ll be glad to have you Mona.” 

“Well, tonight let’s celebrate Akira’s coming home and the disbandment of the Phantom Thieves!” Makoto raised her glass. 

“Cheers!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter will be posted on Friday! So mark the 25th as the final day. Tell your friends!
> 
> preview: _“It’s time to wake up anyway.” Akira finally was able to stand. “The train waits for no one.” Akira stretched his arms up over his head. “I can’t wait for you to realize what a mistake you made following me out into the country.”_
> 
> _“Oh I know it already. I’m still going.” Goro promised as he stood as well to shut off his alarm. “We should get going once we’re dressed. I set the alarm a little later to avoid another awkward goodbye from Boss.”_
> 
> _“Like it’ll matter.” Akira laughed before he changed. Once he had his travel bag packed he let Morgana into his, then the three of them took a moment to look around the attic once more. “I’m going to miss this dusty dank place.”_


	44. the end of infinity with you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goro and Akira prepare to leave Tokyo and return to Inaba. They make rounds saying their goodbyes to the people they’ve grown to love and call friends. They’ll return to Tokyo one day, but for now Inaba waits for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is it! the final chapter! aaaaaa!

The morning of the 14th felt very strange to Akira. He opened his eyes to the familiar scene of the attic he’d come to know over the last year. There was a chill emanating off of the windows which was pushed back by the heater placed in the middle of the room in a tired attempt to keep the attic from being below freezing. It was odd to say the least. 

For one thing Akira felt like he’d never been anywhere else. His jail cell had been so momentary that it felt like a dream long past. Even his own bedroom back in Inaba felt like it was just something he saw in a movie. It wasn’t really his. It belonged to a completely different boy than the man he turned into. 

Akira let out a silent sigh then pushed himself to sit up. He was alone, Morgana had gone with Goro last night after the party ended. He had hoped to follow Goro home but his fiance told him to wait. He didn’t know what he was supposed to wait for but relented and let Goro leave him with a kiss.

As soon as Akira came down the steps he was greeted by Sojiro with a cup of coffee and a plate of curry. “Since you’re not going back to school yet you can help me out today right?” 

“I guess so.” Akira hummed. “I’ll be going tomorrow though so don’t get used to it.” Akira pushed his glasses closer up his face before sitting to eat.

___________________________________________________

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _3:17pm: **Goro** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Goro** : Come to my place around five.  
**Goro** : Plan to stay the night.  
**Akira** : Kinky?  
**Goro** : 🙂  
**Akira** : ominous…  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

“Boss, I need to go to Goro’s place at five.” Akira said, pocketing his phone once more.

Sojiro gave him a confused look before something seemed to dawn on him, “Oooooh, it’s Valentine’s day. That makes sense.” Sojiro said as he reminded himself, and Akira. Was that why Goro didn’t want him to come along with him last night?

“Do I… get him chocolate?” Akira asked after a pause. 

“I honestly have no idea kid.” Sojiro shook his head. “You’re both guys so I think it’s up to what you want.” 

“Hm…. fair.” Akira touched a curled finger to his chin. They didn’t conform to any gender _norms_ , and he wasn’t about to paint himself as ‘the chick’ because of his sex position. “Gender roles are dumb and I hate them.” Akira frowned. “Fuck it, I’m getting chocolate, I need to leave, like… now.” 

“Yeah, if you think you’re going to find anything you better.” Sojiro laughed. “Maybe tame that mess on your head you call hair.” 

Akira gave Sojiro a deadpan laugh then took off his apron to rush upstairs and get changed. He tried to replicate the side hair thing he did on New Years before he grabbed his bag with his uniform inside then rushed out the door. After some searching Akira was able to find a box of chocolates he felt were good enough to give to Goro then made his way to his apartment. 

“Do I let myself in…?” Akira asked himself as he stood at the door looking at it in deep thought. “I’m five minutes early…” Akira checked his phone then decided it was safer to send a text first. 

_** GORO AKECHI ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _4:55pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : so…  
**Akira** : do i just let myself in or…?  
**Goro** : Yes.  
**Akira** : do i wait the five minutes?  
**Goro** : Akira…  
**Akira** : speaking.  
**Goro** : Just come inside.  
**Akira** : ok but you gotta warn me if you’re naked in bed.  
**Goro** : 🗡️  
**Akira** : OK OK.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

“Here I go.” Akira took out the key he still had then let himself in. The apartment was different from how Akira remembered it. There was a lot less in it actually. He could also smell something that might have passed as burnt curry _and_ chocolate. Akira made his way from the entryway once his shoes were off, to look into the kitchen at the mess there. 

Everywhere else in the apartment was looking bare except for the proverbial mountain of pots and pans piled in the sink and across the counters. “Uh… Goro?” Akira called before he turned away to actually look for the man in question.

“I’m here.” Goro called, leading Akira to what had been the living room. It was now just a room with a kotatsu and a TV on a side table. On the kotatsu was what Akira could only guess was the end result of the mess in the kitchen. The table was covered in a few plates of curry, a half dozen roses in a cup of water, and a plate of what might have been chocolate, it was all one lump and very dark looking. “Hi.” Goro greeted him after a few seconds.

Akira turned his eyes away from the questionable dark-maybe-chocolate lump to look at Goro. He looked probably the most messy and shabby Akira had ever seen him. He had a smear of chocolate along his cheek, his hair was up in a messy ponytail, there was, what Akira could only guess, sugar across his nose and his clothes looked like a curry bomb had exploded all over him. 

“I meant to get cleaned up before you got here but…” Goro admitted scratching his cheek just over the chocolate so it didn’t move. He probably didn’t even know it was there. 

“I love you,” Akira said abruptly, “so much.” It didn’t take a genius to figure out what happened here. Goro had tried to cook dinner for him, and seemingly also tried to make chocolate. He wasn’t the best cook, when Akira had taught him to make pancakes he got the impression Goro might have even been a little scared of the cooktop, but he tried. Goro tried to cook for him and he looked like a mess for it and Akira **loved** it. 

Akira dropped the box chocolate on the table as he knelt down to Goro to drag him forward into a loving kiss. After a few seconds he pulled away to rest their foreheads together. “Well, if I’d known you’d be this excited about curry before I would have tried sooner.” Goro laughed. 

“I helped.” Morgana’s voice called before Akira pulled away from Goro to look at the cat. “He wanted to know how to make curry and I’ve seen you do it loads of times so I offered my _invaluable_ assistance.” Morgana hopped up on the table with the best feline grin he could muster. “The chocolate though… I couldn’t help with it.” 

“I don’t think it’s actually edible.” Goro admitted.

“I’ll still try it.” Akira reached back to Goro to clean the chocolate and the sugar off of his face. “You made it after all.” 

“I did but if it’s poison please don’t actually eat all of it.” Goro rubbed over his face when he realized why Akira was touching him. “Shit, okay. I’ll be just a minute.” Goro quickly got up to run to his bedroom. 

“Mona, I love him a lot.” Akira said as he kept his eyes on the last place he’d seen Goro. 

“I can tell.” Morgana said, almost sounding deadpan. “I spent most of my time with him while you were gone and I gotta say I learned a bit more about him. All I can say is that you two were definitely made for each other.” 

“Don’t spoil it for me now. I want to learn on my own.” Akira leaned back on the palms on his hands with a smile still waiting for Goro to return. 

When Goro returned he was in clean clothes, his hair was down, and he cleaned his face up of anything that might have been remaining. Once he sat down the three of them began to eat. It wasn’t insanely romantic, not with Morgana there, but it felt very domestic. Honestly, Akira loved it. A few months ago he didn’t think this would be possible but now here he was.

Once dinner was done Akira tried “ _Goro’s Shadow Chocolate_ ” as Morgana named it. It wasn’t good, it was very burnt and Akira was sure that his taste buds were about to go on strike for him daring to put that in his mouth. Rather than continue to try and subject his mouth, and body, to such bad chocolate Akira and Goro split the store bought box Akira had brought instead.

When it came time to clean up, Akira insisted he help wash dishes. He had grown to know what to do with burned on mess so it would be no problem for him to clean up Goro’s mistakes. It was very late into the night by the time they finished everything.

Akira let himself sink into Goro’s bed with a long sigh as he let his body relax. He’d been going all day between the cafe, the chocolate shopping, and now those dishes. “Tired?” Goro asked from the door. When Akira looked up he found Goro leaning against the frame with a smile on his face. 

“A little. Sojiro had me help out at the cafe before I came here.” Akira answered then shifted around to prop himself up on his elbow to look at Goro. “You look a little tired too. Cooking stressed you out that bad?” 

“Ha. No. It’s probably the sleepless nights trying to free you catching back up to me.” Goro admitted before pushing off the door to move to Akira and sit. “You know, I still remember Maruki’s fake world and the mess he turned my past into.” 

“Yeah?” Akira shuffled around so he was resting his head in his lap. 

“Yes.” Goro leaned back to give Akira’s head space then ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s kind of hard to sort out what parts were fake and real sometimes. Then there are times I wish something had been real. Like us living together.”

“Well, that’s what we’re planning on doing isn’t it?” Akira asked.

“It is… but I miss the idea that it was already happening for months.” Goro’s lips twitched in a small smile. 

“So… I noticed your apartment is a lot… cleaner than before.” Akira didn’t know how else he wanted to phrase that Goro’s stuff was missing. 

“Well, I plan on moving with you to Inaba for however long. Since I’m not making TV appearances anymore I need to let this apartment go and I have nowhere to put things, so I got rid of them.” Goro shrugged. “The less stuff I have the easier it’ll be to just walk away.”

“Fair enough.” Akira agreed. “I guess I should try to call Tatsumi-san about an extra person and a half coming with me.” 

“I’m guessing the half means Mona?” 

“Psh, of course not! You’re my _other half_ right? Mona’s his own person.” Akira joked before Goro shoved a pillow in his face in reply. After a short struggle Akira found himself sitting on top of his fiance now, holding Goro’s hands up over his head. “Am I wrong?” 

“You’re a sappy idiot.” Goro shook his head with a huff. He laid still now, even going slack under Akira’s touch so Akira slowly let up his grip, which was his mistake. In a second their positions had flipped and now Goro was on top instead. He didn’t pin Akira’s hands but he did lock his knees around Akira’s waist. “I have something I want to give you if you’ll behave yourself for a minute.” 

“I swear on my honor as a Phantom Thief I will behave for a _minute_.” Akira put up a hand. Goro watched him carefully as he slowly got up off of Akira to get something from his closet. When he came back he took up the spot he’d been in before while hiding whatever it was behind him. “Close your eyes and give me your left hand.” Goro motioned with a free hand of his own.

“Okaaaaay.” Akira put his right hand over his eyes then offered his left to Goro. He was sure he knew what this was but he kept his mouth shut. After a few seconds of nothing Akira felt something cold and smooth slide over his finger, his ring finger. His guessing had been right. “And you called me a sap.” Akira mumbled.

“You can look now.” Goro released Akira’s hand to let him hold it near his face and inspect exactly what he thought it was. “It’s white gold.” Goro answered the unasked question. The band was rather plain with a red gem embedded into the metal in the middle. “I thought about getting you something flashy but I think I’ll reserve that for when we actually ‘tie the knot’ or whatever.” 

“It’s perfect.” Akira lowered his hand to rest it on Goro’s hip. “So… what happened to, uh…?” 

“The one I found in the other reality? It vanished.” Goro confirmed. “It was just another part of Maruki’s delusion anyway.” 

“Should I find another like it?” Akira wondered out loud. 

“No. I’d rather it be something _you_ thought I would like. Also I wouldn’t kill you if you got me something cheap to start with.” Goro said as his hand found Akira’s to hold it. “We’ll both be starting over.” 

“Speak for yourself. I still have all that money from the Metaverse. Even after dividing it up to everyone it’s like two million.” Akira teased before Goro laughed. “We beat up a lot of shadows…”

“Oh in that case you better make it something nice.” Goro reached do to flick Akira’s forehead softly. “You know… if you’d told me last year I would be like this now I would have laughed at you and probably pushed you in front of a train.” Goro moved to lay next to Akira now. “You’ve done a grand job of fucking up my entire life then stuck yourself in the middle of my mess to help rebuild it.” 

“Well, I couldn’t just stand by and watch you suffer.” Akira shrugged. “I kind of love you a lot. You know?” 

“I still find it strange that you do but I suppose it’s too late to question it.” Goro grabbed Akira’s wrist to wiggle his ringed hand at him with a smile. After he was done Goro let both of their hands fall between them as he stared at a middle distance between them for a minute. “Whatever comes next I’m going to be with you…” Goro said at last, “it’s because of you that I have this life or these friends. Even if we weren’t more I would feel obligated to return the favor somehow.” 

“Good thing this isn’t a thing you have to repay me over.” Akira shifted so he was laying on his side looking at Goro. “Right? You’re not trying to fulfill some obligation or anything?” 

“I’m not. I’m carving my own path. It just happens that I want to take whatever path keeps you with me.” Goro moved closer to press his forehead against Akira’s. “I’ll follow you to the ends of the Earth and further. Never forget that.” 

“I won’t.” Akira promised. “And you better remember that I’m always on your side. Murder or no.”

“Idiot.” Goro muttered before he went in for a kiss.

____________________________________________________________

**_KANJI TATSUMI_ **

**__** **_{_ ** _12:22pm: **Akira** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Akira** : Hello, Tastumi-san. I got your contact information from Detective Shirogane. I hope texting you is okay.  
**Kanji** : ya  
**Kanji** : howz nao?  
**Akira** : Good. He sends his regards.  
**Kanji** : coo  
**Akira** : So I’m coming home in a few weeks. I got the care package from you and Ren saying I could stay with you. Is that offer still good?  
**Kanji** : ya  
**Akira** : Would it still be okay if I brought a cat?  
**Kanji** : catz good  
**Akira** : What about... a boyfriend?  
**Akira** : He’ll get his own place pretty quick!  
**Akira** : It’s just to start with.  
**Akira** : And we’ll behave ourselves.  
**Kanji** : no prob he can come  
**Akira** : And I can even give you money for rent.  
**Akira** : Oh.  
**Kanji** : liztn kid  
**Kanji:** i dun give a fuq bout the bf or w/e  
**Kanji:** be gay/bi/pan  
**Kanji** : if ur happi thatz nuff  
**Kanji** : i waz ur age  
**Kanji** : i get it  
**Akira:** Thank you, Tatsumi-san.  
**Kanji:** hurry up n get bk here  
**Kanji** : ima talk to the skool  
**Akira** : Okay. (^・ω・^ )  
**Kanji** : !!!  
**Kanji** : i wanna do that  
**Akira** : I’ll show you when I get back!  
**Kanji** : u better  
**Kanji** : l8r  
**Akira** : ( ^ω^)ﾉ  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

March 18th, 20XX

_** BE GAY DO CRIMES ** _

**__** **_{_ ** _10:06pm: **Driving Gay** has started a new chat thread **}**_

**Driving Gay** : We’re going to all meet up tomorrow right?  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : we better!  
**keysmash lesbian** : will akira and goro actually be avaliable?  
**coffee gay** : We will be. I’ve finished everything up on my end already so I don’t have any other plans.  
**asexual gremlin** : we’re gunna make a TON of curry for you guys to take with you!!!!  
**disaster gay** : futaba pls.  
**asexual gremlin** : SO MUCH CURRY AKIRA.  
**The Perfect GayTM** : We’re going to use the veggies from the garden we all made together!  
**disaster gay** : can’t i just get the recipie or something?  
**disaster gay** : oh. never mind give me all the curry.  
**asexual gremlin** : why not both?  
**CommissionsAreOpen** : I have a gift for you two as well.  
**RibbonPrincess** : I’ll be free!!!! Coach gave me the afternoon off since you guys will be leaving the day after…  
**disaster gay** : looks like i should make my rounds in the morning. say bye to all my wonderful confidants.  
**coffee gay** : You’d better give special attention to Takemi-sensei.  
**disaster gay** : right?  
**Driving Gay** : I wish we could drive you guys but…  
**coffee gay** : They’ve been following Akira and I around for weeks now.  
**disaster gay** : yeah… i saw them near the school yesterday.  
**Ribbon Princess** : Well, we’ll just have to distract them!!!  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : just get your hugs out before go time  
**coffee gay** : Tomorrow while Akira sees to saying his good-byes I should do my own. I wonder how petty it would be to say something to Shido…  
**asexual gremlin** : do it or ur het.  
**coffee gay** : I’m not that easily goaded.  
**coffee gay** : I do feel like showing him that I’m better than him at least. Hm. It’s very tempting.  
**coffee gay** : I think I’ll just settle for lunch with Sae-san.  
**disaster gay** : where at? i’ll crash the later half to say bye to her too.  
**coffee gay** : Not sure yet. I’m thinking sushi.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : i want some…  
**coffee gay** : No. 🙂  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : bitch  
**coffee gay** : Coming from you I’ll try my best to be offended.  
**AllBirawnNoBirain** : 💢  
**Driving Gay** : Should I let my sister know you plan to call?  
**coffee gay** : Yes please. I’ll call her in an hour.  
**Driving Gay** : Okay.  
**Driving Gay** : So we’ll meet at Leblanc around six?  
**asexual gremlin** : ye.  
**disaster gay** : partyyyyyyyy.  


_**{The chat thread has been closed.}** _

Akira woke up pretty late the following day. Goro had already gotten up to get ready for his own plans. The last week he’d been living at Leblanc as well since he’d let his apartment go. White Day saw them using a connection of Sojiro’s for a sweet little dinner then the next day they jointly sent their things ahead of them to Kanji’s place. All they had now were a pair of duffle bags full of clothes to live out of until it was time to go.

“You getting up? You’re losing time to see people.” Goro said coming up the steps. 

“Yeah, I’m up.” Akira sat up then stretched his hands up over his head with a yawn. “I guess I’ll start with Takemi. She’ll get mad if I put it off too long.” 

“I’ll go with you to thank her before I go meet with Sae-san.” Goro pulled on his blue sweater vest. “Get dressed. I’ll get you some coffee to go.” Goro brushed his hair back to get it to settle before he went back down stairs. 

“Ahh, domestic bliss is real.” Akira stretched again before he stood to dress in his jeans and black coat combo. Once he was ready he brushed through his hair once then went downstairs where Morgana was sitting next to his bag in one of the booths while Futaba helped Sojiro start some curry. “Mornin’ guys.” 

“Morning!” Futaba greeted. “Now get out. We gotta party-fy this place and we can’t do that with you here!” Futaba motioned at Akira to get out. 

Akira laughed before taking a thermos Goro offered to him. “Okay, okay. Mona you’re coming with?” 

“Yeah, I feel pretty connected with all your confidants too.” Morgana climbed into Akira’s bag before getting picked up and slung over Akira’s shoulder. 

“We’ll be back later.” Akira waved with his coffee, only pausing for Goro to whisper something to Futaba then they were off. “No briefcase?” 

“I decided to leave it with Futaba as a promise to return for it.” Goro explained as the pair of them made their way up the street toward Takemi’s clinic. “Are you still going to try taking Morgana with you to school when we get to Inaba?” 

“I can try but I think the desks there are very anti-cat.” Akira glanced back to Morgana.

“I guess I’ll just have to find something else to do while you go to school.” Morgana complained. “Goro, you got plans?” 

“Online classes between whatever work I find.” Goro shrugged. “Not going to college in person will put me behind a little but I had already decided to stay with him so…” 

“Just get yourself ready to transfer to a Tokyo school next year.” Akira motioned toward the sky.. 

“Sure.” Goro laughed. 

“Also I bet you’re going to either work for Tatsumi-san or at Junes and I’m sorry.” Akira gave Goro a weak smile before they went into the clinic. “Takemi-senseiiiii.” 

“Oh it’s _you_.” Takemi looked up from her paperwork trying to look annoyed before she smiled. “I’m just kidding, you’re leaving here tomorrow aren’t you? I heard from Boss.” 

“Yeah, we’re going on to Inaba.” Akira nodded before he put an arm around Goro’s shoulders. “I’m taking him with me.” 

“Good. I guess I won’t have to worry about your hanahaki suddenly coming back then.” Takemi leaned forward with her elbow on the table then placed her chin in her hand. “I still think you should have told him about it sooner.” 

“Depending on when it might have not worked out for him.” Goro glanced at Akira with a smirk. “I wanted to thank you for keeping him alive for as long as you did. It gave us both the time I think we needed for this to work out.” 

“I’m just happy I could help. It even helped me develop my hanahaki treatment for non-ficus patients. I hope to be able to get rid of it without removing memories one day.” Takemi sat back in her seat. “I should also give you an update on Miwa-chan. Her symptoms started to heal pretty quickly after giving her the new medication. So thanks to you she’s doing much better.”

“That’s good. You’ll get to see her smile again then.” Akira smiled himself. 

“Yeah, I can’t wait for that. Honestly, this last year has been the biggest one for me. If you hadn’t stumbled into my clinic looking for medication to ‘help you study’ I doubt I would have still been here. Thank you. I won’t ever lose my way again, and you better not give up either. Take this,” Takemi took a dog tag out of her lab coat to give to him, “you saved Miwa-chan, and gave me a new purpose. I think it’s only fair that someday you get to meet her one day. Maybe once she’s better we’ll take a trip to Inaba to thank you in person.” 

“Well, we’ll be back at some point. If you can’t make it to me. I’ll come back to you.” Akira promised putting the dog tag in his coat. “Thank you Takemi-sensei.” Akira stepped from Goro a little to bow deeply to Takemi. “You saved my life.”

“I have to thank you for the same thing.” Goro bowed as well. “If you ever need an ex-detetive for something you’ll have my services.” 

“Oh? That might be useful one day… I’m kidding. Saving him is my job isn’t it?” Takemi laughed. “I’ll see you two again. Be safe.” 

Akira and Goro gave her both a wave before stepping outside. “Okay, I’m going to meet with Sae--” Goro trailed off as he looked toward the street as Sae approached them. “I thought I would be meeting you there?” 

“I wanted to pick you up.” Sae shrugged. “Hello Kurusu-kun.” 

“Hey, Sae-san.” Akira returned the greeting. 

“I was hoping I could catch you before you got too busy. Akechi-kun, could I talk with him alone first?” Sae looked at Goro. “Nothing bad I promise.” 

“Sure, I’ll wait over by Leblanc.” Goro jabbed his thumb backward before he turned to leave them alone.

“So, you look like you’ve been doing well. You look happy.” Sae motioned over him. “You know, before everything happened I used to come by Leblanc a lot. Boss really makes some of the best coffee I’ve ever had. I hope you picked up on his technique.” 

“I did.” Akira adjusted his glasses with a grin. 

“Good. You’ll do well so long as you can make it like he does.” Sae chuckled. “I wanted to tell you that on the record you’ve been cleared of any and all crimes you’ve been accused of. The stigma that came with your conviction, however, isn’t as easy to shake. You’re going back to a small town where everyone knows what you were convicted of, and you’re going back with Akechi-kun as your fiance. I won’t sugarcoat things. You’re going to be fighting harder than before to be accepted, you’ll feel like the whole world is against you even. No matter what though, I want you to remember I’m on your side.” Sae reached into her purse to take out a laminated card to give to Akira. “Any time you or Akechi-kun need help you can call me. I’ll defend you any time, free of charge.” 

“Sae-san…” Akira felt a little tear come to his eye. “You know, you’re pretty alright for an adult. I guess I’ll have to just trust you to do the right thing after all.” Akira put the card away. “You’ve been a lot of help. So thanks again.” 

“Any time.” Sae promised with a nod. “I’m going to go take your fiance for some sushi now. I’ll make sure he brings some back for you and that cat of yours.” Sae waved and then went around Akira to head to meet with Goro. 

Akira spent the rest of the afternoon going around to see the people he’d made friends with. Some were sad to see him go, others were excited to see him able to take control of his life once again. Everyone had something to give to him, most of the trinkets were small, so at least it wouldn’t be difficult to fit them into his bags.

As evening began to settle in, Akira made his way back to Leblanc. Goro was standing outside looking at his phone when Akira approached. “They kick you out again?” 

“No. I was just looking at a map of Inaba. I know you told me it was in the middle of nowhere but it really is very rural.” Goro put his phone away. “Ryuji was being loud so I stepped out. You finish seeing everyone you wanted to?” 

“Yeah, I got a gecko pin from Iwai-san, and a manuscript for a documentary about the Phantom Thieves that Yuuki wants to make. I have… a lot of things.” Akira jiggled his bag. 

“You should have told Shinya to keep his toy gun! There’s no space for me in here!” Morgana climbed out of the bag to sit on Akira’s shoulder. “You better put this stuff in another bag tomorrow.” 

“Yeah, I will.” Akira reached up to give Morgana a pat on the head. “Let’s go inside.” 

“I’d be ready for Ryuji to cry on you.” Goro warned him. 

“That’s fine. I’m sure I’m going to have a shirt full of snot before the night is over.” Akira opened the door to let Goro in first before he followed. “Alright! Get the waterworks started! I am here!” 

“Man, fuck you!” Ryuji shouted at him before he actually did begin to cry. 

“Oh boy.” Akira set his bag with Mona down in the nearest booth before he went to give Ryuji a hug. “Bro you gotta be strong and stuff!” 

“I know bro but...BRO.” Ryuji returned Akira’s embrace with his own. “Without you I woulda ended up in so much trouble. Thanks for keepin’ me on the straight path y’know?” 

“Straight path? That doesn’t sound like me. Are you sure it was me?” Akira joked until Ryuji punched him in the side softly. “Sorry!” 

“Asshole!” Ryuji cried. “Spring break is supposed to be the most fun part of the whole fuckin’ year but here you go movin’ away makin’ me cry and shit!” 

“Bro you’re gunna make me cry.” Akira pouted. 

“It’s your fault!” Ryuji snapped before he took a deep breath. “But I guess it’s not just your fault. I’m movin’ too.” Ryuji announced making the room still. “I’m goin’ to move closer to a rehab hospital and try to get my knee fixed up while finishin’ school.” Ryuji explained. “I wanna get runnin’ again. I can’t keep hopin’ I can get better without tryin’ y’know? So, I’m gunna do it.”

“I’m proud of you Ryuji.” Akira smiled. 

“When?” Goro asked, taking a seat at the counter. 

“Soonest will be next month. Mom’s lookin’ for a place for us to move to.” Ryuji answered. “The money we all got from the Phantom Thieves stuff really helped make it possible.” 

“I think you mean all my part time work.” Akira joked. 

“If you ever find you need any help with moving costs please let me know Ryuji-kun.” Haru spoke. “Or just any help at all. Like I said to Goro-kun and Akira-kun I want to help all of you however I can. You’re family to me.” 

“Haru… thank you.” Ryuji grinned. 

“Since Ryuji thinks he can steal the night with his news” Ann announced next, “I’m going to start a short-term exchange pretty soon. I’m going to really focus on my modeling and I think the best place to start really getting into that is to study abroad.” 

“I got news that I’ve been accepted to my first choice college actually.” Makoto said next. “I’ll be going to the same school my sister did to study law. I’ll be moving to live closer to college probably around the same time Ryuji is moving.” 

“You’re all leaving…” Yusuke said, looking sad. 

“I’ll be going to college while learning about Okumura Foods.” Haru said. “I’ll be attending nearby though so I won’t be leaving!” 

“Well that’s good!” Futaba put her hands on her hips. “I passed my entrance exam so I’m going to be starting high school in April! I thought about going to Shujin but it’s not really geared for my kinda level, and Kosei is too far so I’m going to Goro’s old school.” 

“You’ll get a good education there.” Goro smiled. “And if any of the teachers give you trouble just let me know. I have information you might find useful on… all of them.” 

“Whoa.” Futaba gasped before pushing her glasses up. “If I get in trouble I’ll just tell them you’re my brother.” 

“I suppose that works just as well.” Goro laughed. 

“I have no plans to currently go anywhere.” Yusuke frowned, folding his arms. “Not until I finish my current painting. It may take me years…” 

“Well, if you need a place to stay you’re always welcome here.” Sojiro told him. “Since I think you’re still living at the dorm right? If you don’t have a place to go after you graduate you’re welcome to his old room.” 

“Thank you Boss!” Yusuke bowed to Sojiro.

“I’ll be staying here as well. I’m going to double down on my practice and climb to the very top of gymnastics with my own power.” Sumire said next. “I have to do it for myself and for Kasumi.” Sumire smiled. 

“Wow, this farewell for Akira and Goro really turned into a full farewell for a lot of us.” Ann noted. “Sorry to hijack your party guys.” 

“I think I like it more like this.” Akira chuckled. “I don’t really like the spotlight.” 

“Are you sure about that?” Goro tried to suppress a snort. “I mean… have you met you? You are very dramatic.” 

“Shut up!” 

_______________________________________________________________

The following morning Akira woke up bright and early. He actually woke up before Goro for once. Rather than get right up he propped himself up on his elbow to watch Goro’s sleeping face. This was probably his favorite part of living with Goro. He looked so peaceful, no one would be able to guess how sassy he actually was, or that he ever murdered people. Maybe that was part of what Akira liked best. Goro didn’t hide who he was around him, Akira knew all of it so there was no point. So all that was left was the real Goro. He was a sassy brat who knew everything and wasn’t afraid to tell people.

Akira wasn’t sure how long he laid there watching Goro sleep but eventually an alarm started to sound off which woke him up. Once Goro opened his eyes to meet Akira’s he slowly frowned before pushing his hand out to cover Akira’s face. “Stop staring at me.” Goro mumbled then turned away. 

“But your sleeping face is cute.” Akira teased moving Goro’s hand off of his face to follow Goro as he turned. “Give me a good morning kiss.” 

“No. Your breath is worse than Mona’s.” Goro curled up to cover his head with their blanket. 

“Wow, that is so hurtful.” Akira looked mock hurt. “I see how it is. You can stay here. I’m going back to Inaba alone.” Akira started to get out of bed before Goro’s arms wrapped around him and pulled him back down. “This is kidnapping.” 

“Dramatic.” Goro said before he gave Akira a kiss. 

“You two are loud.” Morgana complained from his makeshift bed on the table made from old chair cushions. They had to send his actual bed ahead with the rest of their things. Morgana hated sleeping in the bed with them since it was too small for him to get comfortable with both of them in it.

“It’s time to wake up anyway.” Akira finally was able to stand. “The train waits for no one.” Akira stretched his arms up over his head. “I can’t wait for you to realize what a mistake you made following me out into the country.” 

“Oh I know it already. I’m still going.” Goro promised as he stood as well to shut off his alarm. “We should get going once we’re dressed. I set the alarm a little later to avoid another awkward goodbye from Boss.” 

“Like it’ll matter.” Akira laughed before he changed. Once he had his travel bag packed he let Morgana into his, then the three of them took a moment to look around the attic once more. “I’m going to miss this dusty dank place.”

“I’d like it more if the bed were bigger.” Goro offered before his hand found Akira’s. “But I suppose having to wrap around you every night wasn’t so bad.” 

“Sap.” Akira kissed the side of Goro’s head then led them downstairs. “Hey.” Akira greeted Sojiro. 

“Hey.” Sojiro returned. “You guys got everything?” 

“I think so.” Akira nodded. “If you find something you can mail it up if it’s important right?” 

“I guess…” Sojiro hummed. “You know, when I took you in I thought I was the one that was doing you a favor. Then you had the gall to turn it around on me.” Sojiro chuckled softly. “You better take care of each other.” 

“I’m sad to leave really. I’ll miss the smell of coffee everyday.” Akira played with his bangs. “You did me a lot of favors though. Thank you Sojiro.” 

“Don’t mention it.” Sojiro nodded before he set two large thermoses on the counter for them. “For the road. They should keep hot the whole trip.” 

“Shit. I’m gunna cry Boss.” Akira really did feel like he was tearing up. 

“Thank you Boss.” Goro picked up both containers. “We’ll be in touch.” 

“I’ll be waiting with a fresh cup of coffee for you.” Sojiro bid him farewell. 

“I won’t need this anymore.” Akira took out the notebook Sojiro had given him when he started. “See ya.” Akira placed the notebook on the counter then followed Goro out the door.

“It’s a pretty nice day isn’t it?” Goro looked up as they made their way to the street on their way to the subway. 

“Yeah. It’s almost a shame to be heading back to Inaba.” Akira raised his hand up to block the sun as he looked at the sky. “The air is cleaner at least.” 

“Heeeeey!” Ryuji’s voice cut in, making both of them look across the roadway to see him hanging out of a van in the same shape the Monabus was. “Come on over here!” 

“Couldn’t they have gotten something less… stand outish?” Goro looked at the van then Akira. “Let’s go?” 

Akira led them to the van, “So where did you guys find this?” Akira asked once they got close enough to see everyone inside. 

“Not important!” Futaba announced. “We wanted to take you to the station together but, uhhhh, we’re gunna have to lose the tail first.” Futaba looked back to bring attention to the black car with flashers on behind them. 

“Already? Geez.” Ryuji looked annoyed before a car pulled up behind Goro and Akira. 

Goro turned quickly ready to throw hot coffee on whoever it was but paused as the window rolled down. “Maruki?” 

“Need a hand?” Maruki asked, tilting his hat up. 

“Well, if we split up they’ll have to pick someone to go after right?” Makoto suggested. 

“It’s not a bad idea…” Akira looked from the party to Maruki. “Goro?” 

“Let’s do it. You did mention you couldn’t find him to say goodbye yesterday.” Goro said. “Let’s hurry before they figure out what’s going on.” He nodded back at the obvious tail. 

“We’ll just have to make it a big show and make us the more interesting bait!” Ann nodded. 

“Text us when you get on the train!” Haru shouted before the door to the side shut. 

“Safe travels!” Yusuke yelled before Akira and Goro climbed into the back of Maruki’s taxi. Maruki waited until Makoto backed the bus up then took off fast to distract the car looking to follow them.

Once it was clear Maruki began to drive. “Sorry I was kind of avoiding you.” Maruki spoke looking at them through his rearview mirror. “I was a little hazy for a few days. I guess that’s just the effect of a change of heart huh?” 

“So we’ve come to understand.” Goro said. “A taxi job though?” 

“I think it’s safer this way. I can’t accidentally influence other people this way. Not that I think I can anymore, but I’d rather not accidentally create another alternate reality.” Maruki chuckled. “It’s not so bad to just start all over either.” Maruki’s fingers tapped the wheel. “Thanks to you I was able to see what I was doing wrong. I let go of my hanahaki too. So really you saved me from myself and I’ll never be able to repay you for that.” 

“Letting her go must have been hard.” Akira looked guilty. 

“I thought it would be so I wrote myself a letter before the surgery. I told myself that even though I loved her, I needed to make a change. I’d never remember her, but that was okay. A bunch of kids and their cat reminded me that I can live without her memory and still honor her.” 

“If I didn’t know better you’re making it sound like she’s dead.” Goro said flatly earning an elbow from Akira. 

“For me she might as well be. I don’t even remember her name or her face. I just know it was a woman from context of that letter.” Maruki let out a short bitter laugh. “I’ll keep going in this world and find my nice place to belong. 

“Well, as long as you know what you’re going to try next I think that’s okay.” Akira sat back to relax. The drive to the main station wasn’t a long one, traffic was light so after only a few minutes they were at their destination. “How much do we owe you?” 

“No charge.” Maruki shook his head. “Just remember what I said. If life gets to be too much, you can always start over. If you ever need me you know how to contact me.” Maruki held his hand out to give them something. Akira reached out to accept whatever it was. When Maruki dropped the item into his hand Akira pulled it back to look at a small wrapped Phantom Wafer snack. “In case you get hungry.” 

“Thanks, Maruki-sensei.” Akira smiled then moved with Goro to get out of the car. “If we’re back in Tokyo any time soon we’ll call you up.” 

“I look forward to it.” Maruki said before rolling his window up then left. 

“Is it bad I still hate him somewhat?” Goro asked as he waved until Maruki was out of sight.

“No. I get it.” Akira shook his head, stuffing the wafer in his pocket. “We should hurry up before the train leaves without us and we have to go back to Leblanc.” 

“Let’s go then.” Goro passed Akira one of the coffees before they went into the station to head toward their platform. Akira was looking at their tickets to make sure they were in the right place when he was bumped into. 

“Didn’t you teach me to keep my head up senpai? You sure don’t take your own advice do you?” Sumire chuckled to him when he looked up to apologize. 

“Fancy running into you here.” Akira greeted her. 

“I was on my way home.” Sumire smiled. “I guess it just worked out this way. I kind of already got my thanks and goodbye out at the party so… I guess I’ll just say take care and have a safe trip!”

“We will, don’t forget about us ok?” Akira waved. 

“As if I could.” Sumire giggled. “Keep him out of trouble Goro-kun.” 

“That’s impossible, but I suppose I’ll try.” Goro sighed then shook his head. “Let’s hurry up though. Our train is supposed to leave soon.” 

“Oops, yeah. We’ll text you later Sumire!” Akira said before they parted from Sumire to head to their train. 

Once they were seated Akira set Morgana’s bag down to unzip it and give him some air. “It’ll be a long ride.” Akira leaned his head on Goro’s shoulder. “You got a movie?” 

“I did.” Goro took out a laptop. “A few actually. Futaba helped me.” He pulled down the tray to set the computer on. “Requests?” 

“Doesn’t matter. I’ve got you.” 

“I can’t believe the shit that comes out of your mouth sometimes.” Goro said but Akira could see his face turning red. This was going to be a better trip than the one he’d taken to get here in the first place. He was going to miss Tokyo, but he’d be back.

_______________________________________________________________

“Akira, wake up.” Goro called to Akira as he gave him a shake. 

When Akira opened his eyes he could see the sun was starting to set. He checked his phone for the time to see it was almost two in the afternoon. As he registered the time a voice spoke over the speaker. “We will arrive at the Yasogami terminal in a few minutes. Passengers headed for Inaba City and Yasoinaba station please go to the otherside of the platform.” 

“We have a transfer coming up.” Goro said. “You awake enough for it?” Goro asked, giving him another jostle. 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m awake.” Akira sat up. “Sorry I passed out.” 

“It’s fine. I let the others know we’re alright.” Goro zipped Morgana’s bag semi-closed then picked it up when the train finally came to a stop. “Let’s go.” 

Akira followed Goro off the train with his overnight bag and their coffees. After following a few more directions the two of them got on another train where they sat across from one another with Morgana on the floor between them. “Now you know we’re getting close. The train is smaller. Yet still somehow empty.” 

“I see that.” Goro looked around. “I don’t think I’ve been on a train this devoid of people before.” 

“There was a good week when I got to Tokyo I was having serious claustrophobia issues.” Akira set his elbow on the arm of the seat before putting his face against his closed fist. “So there’s a really good steak bowl near the shop. They even have this fun rainy day challenge where you get your meal free if you can finish it.” 

“You plan to gorge yourself?” Goro raised his eyebrow. 

“I mean, no. Just once in a while you know?” Akira pouted. 

Their conversation continued on from there, Akira talking about all the little mom and pop shops they’d be near, as the train continued to take them forward toward Inaba. The sun was fully set by the time they finally arrived at their destination. 

“So, where is this Tatsumi-san?” Goro asked once they stepped outside the station. 

“Uhhh,” Akira sounded looking around until they were met with headlights, “there?” Akira waited with Goro on the steps until the car doors opened and a familiar boy with similar black curly hair ran toward him.“R-Reni?” Akira questioned before he was forced to catch him when he threw himself into his arms. “Do mom and dad know you’re here?” 

“I don’t care about what they think! I missed you Aki!” Ren squeezed around Akira’s middle. 

“Geez, you haven’t changed at all.” Akira laughed a little then patted him on the top of the head. “Ren, I want you to meet someone.” Akira said, making him back up to look at Goro. “This is Goro Akechi.” 

“I’ve heard of you…” Ren looked him over suspiciously. “So… why is he here? Isn’t he a detective? I thought you were cleared of all those charges?” 

“I was!” Akira waved quickly to get his attention. “Goro’s with me, because, uh, well… he’s my boyfriend?” Akira hoped Goro wouldn’t get mad at him for downgrading their relationship for now. 

“Boy...friend…” Ren repeated then smirked just as Kanji joined them. “I’m actually somehow not surprised?” 

“Well, now you know.” Akira played with his bangs. “Hi, Tatsumi-san. Thanks for meeting us.” 

“No prob. You look good man. Maybe taller?” Kanji gave Akira a pat on the arm. “You’re the boyfriend right?” Kanji looked to Goro. “Nice to meet ya. I’m Kanji Tatsumi. I run the textile shop in town with my ma. Don’t worry about gettin’ judged in our house. You’re welcome no matter what.” 

“Thank you Tatsumi-san.” Goro bowed his head. 

“Kanji’s fine. I keep trying to tell the kid that but he doesn’t listen. Formal lil shit.” Kanji messed with Akira’s hair. “Come on. I’ve got dinner waiting for us back at home so let’s get going.” 

“Sure.” Akira nodded, letting Ren take the Monabag leaving Akira to walk with Goro. “Sorry.” 

“About?” 

“Saying ‘boyfriend’ and not ‘fiance’ to them. I just feel like they wouldn’t understand if I tried to explain it to them right now.” Akira nodded toward the car. “They’d think I’m moving too fast and I doubt they’d believe the Metaverse story.”

“I get it. You don’t need to apologize. That being said, do you want to put your ring on a chain then?” Goro nodded toward Akira’s hand. 

“Ah. Probably should…” Akira looked at the ring, “or I could not turn into a coward and just own it. I’m still trying to decide.” 

“You don’t need to push yourself Akira. If you’re not ready for people to know that we’re that far along then they don’t need to know.” Goro shook his head. “I’m not going to start hating you because you want to be careful.” 

“Thanks.” Akira flashed him a quick smile before opening the door for Goro to climb into the backseat. 

The drive back to Inaba proper was a short one but as they drove the rain began to fall. It wouldn’t be good for Ren to walk home from the textile shop in this weather so they made a stop by the Kurusu home to drop Ren off right at the end of the street. 

“I’ll come back by the shop tomorrow to say hi and bring you some stuff I found that mom and dad missed.” Ren promised after he got out of the car and leaned down to the window the speak. 

“Fine, fine, just hurry up and go home. It’s pouring. Don’t get sick because of this.” Akira waved Ren off, his hand turning into a shield as a car drove past them and up the road. “We can catch up later. Go.” 

“Okay! Geez. Goodnight Kanji-san! See you tomorrow Akechi-san!” Ren waved then began his rush back home, vanishing in the sheet of falling rain.

“He’s probably going to be pretty clingy for a while. I can’t blame him.” Akira sighed as he leaned back into his seat.

“He’s excited you’re home. I am too.” Kanji smiled at them from the rearview mirror. “I’ll appreciate any help I can get from you while you’re livin’ with me if you can manage it. Ma’s been sick lately so I can’t really keep up the doll commissions and handle front of house orders at once. Damn Easy Sales Online has me buried in online orders.”

“I’ll do what I can.” Akira promised. 

“You have college entrance exams to study for. I can help.” Goro cut in.

“We both can. I’m still at the top of my game grades wise.” Akira nudged Goro affectionately.

Once they arrived at the textile shop the rain was coming down even harder. Before they could go into the shop proper they needed to bring in their luggage which left them drenched in the downpour. Kanji’s mother was very welcoming to them and offered them towels to dry off with while telling them they were welcome to come and go whenever they wanted. It was nice to not have restrictions for once.

After a dinner consisting of the very beef bowls Akira had been talking about before, the trio retired to their room. Boxes with their clothes and things had been placed into one corner while two futons laid next to one another already set for them to crawl into bed. In another corner a cat bed with bowls of water and food sat in another corner between the wall and a small flat screen TV on a stand. It was a pretty empty room otherwise. 

“I am exhausted.” Akira shed his shirt and socks before he moved to lay on one of the futons. 

“It started to rain pretty hard. I’m surprised.” Goro looked out the window. “The weather changes like this often?” 

“Yeah. Sometimes? The weather woman’s mood almost seems to control it. That was the joke Ren and I had anyway.” Akira sat up to undress then dragged his night bag closer.

“Mona do you want us to crack the window?” Goro turned to the cat who crawled into the cat bed. 

“Nah, I’m not going out in that weather. I’ll just step on Akira’s face if I need the bathroom.” Morgana teased then turned a few times in the bed before he settled down. “This is comfy.” 

“We’ll have to thank Tatsumi-san tomorrow for it.” Akira said then stood again to change clothes. “How are you feeling being out here?” He pointed the question to Goro. 

“Unsure.” Goro answered as he began to change as well. “It’s different. It’ll take some getting used to.” 

Once the two of them were changed they turned out the light and crawled into bed, moving the futons close enough so they could cuddle up. It didn’t take long for them all to fall asleep. Though as they slept the TV hummed to life quietly. A snow covered screen flickered with frames of a teenage boy with curly hair and square glasses. 

The snowy screen flickered and flashed a few times before it dimmed and turned off once again. The sound of ticking from the clock on the wall was the only other sound in the room aside from the torrential rain still falling outside.

The End!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s the end! I want to lead with that I plan on a follow up fic one day. I’ve got a few others I want to write first so this is done here! Moving along from that…
> 
> I want to thank you all for reading my fic here. This was something I started as a pet project that I didn’t intend to post really. I just wanted to write a fic and have fun with it. My fiance told me I should share it though so I went ahead and did that and here we are 44 chapters in. I’ve made a lot of new friends from this fic just existing and I’m… like… overwhelmed with the response it’s gotten. This is only maybe the fifth multi-chapter fic I’ve ever finished and it’s the longest by far. I’m gunna start crying again.
> 
> Just thank you all so much for reading this and hopefully enjoying it. A special shoutout to my beta ISimpForAnimeBoys aka Bri, for helping me try and make this fic less a mess. One day I’ll write the follow up P4 cross over. For now I’ll end things here and let you guys move on to your next fic. Have a great day! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/lkyjellyl) || [discord server](https://discord.gg/B2gPpSv)( 18+ please be mindful of this! READ THE RULES. )


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